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jNVKINTION  of   SOUTHi^RN 

,    RICHI-40ND,    1893. 

ir-roceedings. 


•iJI«>D  'uojvois   = 

_»aNifl  Aoaads 


ODa'ca  oj.  Virg-inia. 

-^1893^ 


Hand-Book  of 


Arkansas,  •  •  • 
Alabama,  •  •  • 
South  Carolina, 


Virginia, 


•       •       • 


UJith  Illustrations. 


PRDCEEmN&S 


OF  THK 


rGnventien  of  QoutKerrL  Cjoverncrs^ 


HELD  IN  THE 


CITY  OF  RICHMOND,  VIRGINIA, 


ON 


April  12th  and  ISthj   139  3 


WITH  PAPERS  PREPAT^ED  BY  THE  GOVERNORS  OK  ARKANSAS. 

ALABAMA,    SOl'TH    CAROLINA    AND   VIRGINIA,    IN 

REGARD  TO  THE  PHYSICAL  RESOURCES 

OF  THEIR   RESPPXTIVE  STATES. 


RICHMOND: 

C.  N.   WMLLIAMS.    PRINTER. 


(LorLYention  of  Southern  Sovernors. 


This  Convention  met  in  the  Senate  Chamber  in  the  Capitol 
building  in  Richmond  city  at  12  o'clock  M.  on  Wednesday, 
April  12,  1893. 

Present — Governor  W.  M.  Fishback,  of  Arkansas  : 
Thomas  G.  Jones,  of  Alabama  : 
MuRPiiv  J.  Foster,  of  Louisiana  : 
William  J.  Stone,  of  Missouri ; 
Frank  Brown,  of  Maryland  ; 
Elias  Carr,  of  North  Carolina  : 
B.  R.  Tillman,  of  South  Carolina; 
P.  W.  McKiNNEY,  of  Virginia. 

Rev.  W.  James  Nelson,  president  of  the  Baptist  Female 
Institute,  of  Richmond  city,  Va.,  opened  the  session  with 
prayer. 

Governor  McKinney,  of  Virginia,  tendered  a  welcome  to 
the  visiting  Governors  and  others  who  came  to  participate 
in  the  conference. 

Governor  Fishback,  of  Arkansas,  was  elected  President 
of  the  Convention. 

J.  Bell  Bigger,  Clerk  of  the  House  of  Delegates  and 
Keeper  of  the  Rolls  of  Virginia,  was  chosen  Secretary,  and 
William  Wilson,  who  is  Custodian  of  tlie  Archives  of  the 
Virginia  Senate,  was  selected  as  Sergeant-at-Arms. 


4  PROCEEDINGS. 

Accredited  representatives  were  present  as  tblknvs  : 

From  the  State  of  Alabama  :  Hon.  H.  D.  Lane,  Commis- 
sioner of  Agriculture. 

From  the  State  of  Louisiana:  J.  G.  Hawkes,  Commis- 
sioner of  Immigration  ;  Col.  J.  W.  Nicholson,  president 
Louisiana  University  and  Agricultural  and  Mechanical  Col- 
lege and  president  Louisiana  State  Educational  Associa- 
tion :  H.  H.  Hargrove,  Local  Superintendent  of  Education 
and  representative  of  the  press  ;  John  Dymond,  president 
Louisiana  State  Agricultural  Societ}'  and  president  Louisiana 
Sugar  Planters  Association. 

From  Mississippi :   E.  P.  Skene. 

From  Georgia:  John  O.  Waddell,  president  State  Agri- 
cultural Society ;  Alexander  R.  Piper,  second  lieutenant 
Second  Infantry,  United  States  Army. 

From  South  Carolina:  J.  S.  Newman,  acting  president 
Chemson  Agricultural  College  and  director  State  Experi- 
ment Station,  Fort  Hill. 

From  Tennessee  :  George  H.  Armistead  and  Hon.  Robert 
Gates. 

From  West  Virginia  :  Dr.  John  A.  Myers,  Col.  E.  C.  Best. 
Capt.  W.  R.Johnson,  Hon.  C.  H.  Knott,  Hon.  Evan  Powell, 
Maj.  W.  N.  Page,  C.  F.  Moore,  Maj.  J.  C.  Alderson. 

From  Virginia :  Thomas  Whitehead,  Commissioner  of 
.Agriculture,  and  W.  T.  Sutherlin,  president  Board  of  Agri- 
culture. 

The  following  resolutions  were  agreed  to  by  the  Conven- 
tion : 

/.  Resolved,  That  the  Governors  of  the  several  Southern 
States  be  requested  to  have  a  paper  prepared  which  he  can 
endorse   and   to   which   he  will  attach  his  otficial  signature. 


PROCEEDINGS.  5 

succinctly  (not  exceeding  six  thousand  words)  setting  forth 
facts  in  relation  to  the  social  condition,  religion,  education, 
and  physical  resources  of  his  State,  and  that  these  papers 
be  prepared  on  or  before  the  first  day  of  June,  and  when 
prepared  thev  be  forwarded  to  the  Secretary  of  this  Con- 
vention to  be  published  in  pamphlet  form  for  distribution  at 
the  World's  Fair  at  Chicago. 

2.  Resolved,  That  on  or  before  the  first  day  of  June  the 
Secretary  of  this  Convention  be  directed  to  advertise  for 
bids  for  printing  such  of  these  papers  as  may  have  been  for- 
warded to  him,  and  that  when  he  shall  have  ascertained  the 
cost  he  shall  notifv  each  Governor  who  may  have  contributed 
a  paper  and  assess  each  State  with  an  equal  share  of  the 
expense  and  furnish  each  such  State  with  an  equal  number 
of  the  pamphlets  when  printed. 

J.  Resolved,  That  the  Boards  of  Trade  or  Chambers 
of  Commerce  of  the  several  Southern  States  which  are 
interested  be  requested  to  supplement  this  effort  of  the  States 
bv  having  the  articles  in  relation  to  their  respective  Com- 
monwealths published  in  some  of  the  leading  periodicals  of 
the  North,  in  order  that  they  may  reach  that  large  class  of 
home-seekers  who  will  not  attend  the  World's  Fair. 

The  Convention  agreed  to  the  recommendations  contained 
in  the  following  paper: 

In  order  that  the  work  now  and  here  begun  looking  to 
more  extensive  immiijration  to  the  several  Southern  States 
it  is  recommended — 

I.  That  the  Governors  of  the  several  States  a))point  seve- 
ral persons — one  to  investigate  carefully  each  ol   the  lollow- 


6  PROCEEDINGS. 

ing  subjects  in  its  relations  to  the  subject  of  immigration  to 
that  State  : 

Direct  Trade  ; 

Manufacturing  ; 

Labor  and  Employment ; 

Mining  ; 

Climatology  and  Health  ; 

Advertising  : 

Manufacturing  ; 

And  these  persons  in  each  State,  acting  under  the  direction 
of  the  Governor  of  that  State,  shall  co-operate  with  him  in 
such  immigration  work  as  he  may  direct. 

2.  That  for  the  purpose  of  general  co-operative  immigra- 
tion w^ork  in  all  the  Southern  States,  the  persons  appointed 
as  provided  for  above  in  the  several  States  to  investigate 
each  of  the  several  subjects  named  shall  constitute  a  co-ope- 
rative committee  on  each  subject  for  the  several  States,  and 
publish  such  reports  on  these  special  subjects  as  may  be 
hereafter  agreed  upon  and  provided  for  by  the  Governors  of 
the  several  States  co-operating  or  other  accredited  represen- 
tatives of  these  States. 

The  Convention  agreed  to  the  following  address  : 

The  Governors  of  the  States  of  Maryland,  Virginia,  West 
Virginia,  North  Carolina,  South  Carolina,  Georgia,  Alabama, 
Kentuckv,  Tennessee,  Mississippi,  Arkansas,  Louisiana  and 
Missouri,  assembled  in  Convention  at  the  city  of  Richmond, 
Va.,  on  April  12,  1893,  for  the  sole  purpose  of  advancing  by 
co-operation  and  concert  of  action  the  industrial  interests 
and  well-being  of  their  several  States,  do  issue  the  following 
address  to  the  people  of  the  United  States  and  those  of 
Europe  w^ho  may  contemplate  making  investments  in  this 
country  or  immigrating  here  in  search  of  homes  : 


PROCEEDINGS. 


ADDRESS. 


The  States  represented  at  this  convention  comprise  sub- 
stantially the  southern  half  of  the  American  Republic.  The 
territorial  area  of  these  States  is  850,560  square  miles.  The 
population  as  shown  by  the  census  of  1890  is  22,249,279, 
Its  eastern  and  southern  exterior  limits  are  bounded  by  tlie 
Atlantic  Ocean  and  Gulf  of  Mexico.  The  interior  is  tra- 
versed by  many  of  the  most  important  rivers  on  the  continent 
and  by  some  of  the  ijreatest  in  the  world.  The  surface  is 
diversified  by  mountain  chains  and  beautiful  valleys,  by  lon^ 
stretches  of  fertile  bottom  hinds,  and  broad  expanse  of  pic- 
turesque and  productive  prairies.  The  climate  is  temperate, 
changing  more  or  less  with  the  seasons,  and  is  pleasant,  in- 
vigorating, and  healthful.  The  resources  of  this  vast  area, 
distributed  with  a  wonderful  and  surprising  equalit}-,  and  its 
adaptation  to  natural  and  to  industrial  productions  is  almost 
limitless. 

MINERALS. 

All,  or  nearh'  all,  these  States  have  inexhaustible  deposits 
of  coal,  mostly  bituminous,  which  can  be  mined  less  expen- 
sively, perhaps,  than  elsewhere  in  the  world.  In  every  sec- 
tion of  the  area  embraced  by  these  States  are  enormous  and 
immeasurable  supplies  of  iron,  lead,  zinc,  and  other  metals 
useful  in  the  industrial  arts.  Multiplied  thousands  are  already 
engaged  in  mining  and  reducing  tiiese  metals.  The  value  ol 
these  mines  and  mineral  deposits  ha\'e  already  long  since 
passed  the  period  of  experimentation,  and  yet  they  are  in  tlu^ 
very  infancy  of  their  development. 

FORESTRY. 

Scattered  throughout  these  States  are  also  great  areas  of 
forest  lands,  on  wliich  are  growing  in  superabundance  as  fine 


8  PROCEEDINGS. 

timber  as  can  be  found  in  the  world — cypress,  oak,  walnut, 
ash,  maple,  pine,  and  the  like — fit  in  the  highest  degree  for 
ship-building,  house-building,  and  for  all  the  uses  of  manu- 
facturing. 

AGRICULTURE. 

The  soil  and  climate  unite  to  give  to  these  States  vmsur- 
passed  adoption  and  capacity  for  the  productions  of  agri- 
culture. Tobacco,  cotton,  sugar,  Indian  corn,  wheat,  r3^e. 
barley,  oats — all  the  cereals — are  grown  here  in  profuse 
abundance.  Nowhere  in  the  world  does  the  earth  yield  a 
more  prompt,  certain,  and  abundant  return  to  the  vitalizing 
touch  of  the  husbandman  than  in  these  Commonwealths. 

HORTICULTURE,    ETC. 

Much  may  be  said  likewise  of  horticulture.  Nowhere 
can  richer  or  sweeter  fruits — such  as  oranges,  bananas, 
apples,  peaches,  plums,  grapes,  and  berries — be  grown  in 
greater  profusion.  Already  are  to  be  found  here  very  many 
of  the  most  extensive  and  profitable  orchards,  vinevards. 
and  gardens  on  the  globe. 

SUCH    THE    CONDITIONS. 

Such  in  brief  are  the  climatic  and  topographical  condi- 
tions and  such  the  natural  and  productive  advantages  of 
these  great  States  of  the  South  and  Southwest.  Hitherto 
immigration  and  capital  have  flowed  towards  the  Western 
and  Northwestern  States.  This  was  due,  no  doubt,  largely 
to  the  fact  that  those  were  new  States,  whose  immigrants 
could  find  free  homes  by  right  of  settlement  on  the  public 
lands  of  the  United  States,  and  due  partly,  it  may  be,  to  the 
fact  that  most  of  the  States  represented  in  this  convention 
were  the  theatre  of  war  during  the  struggle  between  the 
States  and  were  interrupted   in  their  progress  by  the  some- 


PROCEEDINGS.  9 

w  hat  turbulent  enniditions  immediateh'  following  the  cessa- 
tion of  hostilities  incident  to  the  so-called  period  of  recon- 
struction. But  happily  all  these  disadvantages  are  now  at 
an  end.  The  desirable  public  lands  of  the  Northwest  are 
practically  absorbed  :   they  have  been  taken  up. 

HAVE    DISAPPEARED. 

Long  since  the  old  disturbing  forces  that  prevailed  in  the 
South  and  menaced  its  well-being  have  disappeared.  It  has 
begun  a  new  era  of  progress  and  prosperity.  The  tide  of 
immigration  has  been  directed  southward  and  is  pouring  in 
upon  us  in  a  steady  and  augmenting  stream.  Peace  is 
smiling  everywhere  and  is  striving  to  win  her  victories,  no 
less  renowned  than  those  of  war.  At  this  auspicious  period 
in  Southern  histor^'  the  Governors  of  the  States  here  repre- 
sented have  met  to  give  the  world  assurance  of  their  profound 
gratification  that  this  new  and  brighter  day  has  dawned 
upon  their  States,  and.  if  possible,  to  accelerate  the  move- 
ment which  is  now  so  soon  to  develop  the  wonderful  resources 
and  wealth  of  the  Southern  States. 

ANXIOUS    TO    HAVE    IMMIGRANTS. 

Thev  are  anxious  to  have  immigrants  to  settle  among 
them  :  thev  are  anxious  to  have  capital,  make  investments, 
and  develop  enterprises.  To  the  worth\'  immigrant  the}' 
extend  the  hand  of  welcome,  with  the  assurance  that  he  will 
find  an  educated,  warm-iiearted.  hospitable,  progressive 
people  among  whom  he  can  li\t.'  in  amity  and  peace,  without 
regard  to  his  religion,  his  politics,  or  iiis  nativity.  Churches 
and  school-houses  are  evervwhere.  Although  these  facili- 
ties for  worship  and  education  are  already  established  upon 
a  most  liberal  scale,  the}'  are  constantly  and  rapidl}'  increas- 
ing. The  social,  moral  and  religious  lite  of  the  people  of 
these  States  is  upon  a  high  plane. 


lO  I'KOCKKDINfJS. 

INDUCEMENTS    TO    CAPITALISTS. 

To  the  capitalist  these  States  offer  special  inducements 
for  investments.  The  laws  are  favorable  to  the  investor, 
and  public  order  and  private  right  are  firmly  upheld  and 
maintained.  Nowhere  in  the  world  are  there  such  golden 
opportunities  for  investment  in  mining  and  manufacturing 
enterprises.  Fuel,  water,  wood,  metal,  cane,  cotton,  tobacco, 
hemp,  flax — all  here  together,  one  waiting  to  serve  the  other, 
almost  without  the  cost  of  transportation. 

BOUNDING  FOR^VARD. 

The  South  is  bounding  forward  now.  It  is  the  field  in 
which  the  immediate  future  will  unfold  the  most  marvellous 
development  of  the  century.  Here  new  homes  are  to  grow, 
like  spring  flowers  coming  up  out  of  the  ''  winter  of  our  dis- 
content," and  are  to  multiply  with  increasing  rapidity  as  the 
years  go  by.  Here  capital  is  to  find  its  most  tempting  and 
profitable  field  for  investment. 

A  CORDIAL    INVITATION. 

The  Governors  of  the  States  named,  in  behalf  of  their 
several  constituencies,  extend  a  cordial  and  pressing  invita- 
tion to  home-seekers — farmer,  mechanic,  miner,  workman — 
to  come  and  cast  their  fortunes  with  the  South  ;  as  they  da 
also  a  similar  invita^tion  to  capitalists,  whether  in  the  United 
States  or  elsewhere,  to  examine  our  resources  and  to  aid  us 
in  their  development  to  the  end  that  they  may  participate  in 
our  prosperity. 

With  a  view  to  setting  forth  the  resources  of  the  several 
States  more  in  detail,  it  is  proposed  that  the  Governors  of 
the  States  here  represented  prepare  brief  addresses  showing 
the  pecviliar  and  special  advantages  of  their  respective  States,, 
to  be  published  with  this  address  for  general  distribution. 


PAPER  PREPARED  BY 


W.   M.  F'I^HBACK, 


G^vGr-fa(i)r  (i)f  Arka^^a^. 


ARKANSAS, 


ITS  LOCATION,  RESOURCES,  ADVANTAGES,   NEEDS  AND 

DESCRIPTION. 


Under  the  genial  and  health-giving  climate  of  our  State, 
and  in  the  face  of  almost  every  species  of  political  obstacle, 
there  has  grown  up  in  Arkansas  a  religious  and  social  con- 
dition not  inferior  to  that  of  an}-  other  State  in  the  l^nion. 

RELIGION. 

We  have  in  Arkansas  some  3,500  churches,  or  one  to  every 
322  inhabitants,  over  one-half  of  which  have  been  erected 
within  the  past  ten  years. 

Ten  years  ago  the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church  South  hatl 
about  525  churches,  valued  at  nearly  $300,000,  and  ninety- 
six  parsonages,  valued  at  $45,000.  Now  they  have  1,033 
churches  and  195  parsonages,  valued  in  the  aggregate  at 
about  $1,000,000;  and  during  the  same  decade  they  have 
erected  educational  buildings  valued  at  about  $200,000. 

The  colored  Methodists  have  173  churches  and  27,956 
members.     Their  church  property  is  valued  at  $233,425. 

Tlie  Baptist  denomination  is  conceded  to  be  the  largest  in 
the  State,  iiaving  i  ,772  churclies  and  99,499  iniMuln-rs.  white 
and  black. 


14  ARKANSAS. 

The  colored  Baptists  have  558  churches  and  37,402  mem- 
bers, but  I  have  no  other  statistics  concerning  them. 
We  have  in  all  twenty-nine  denominations. 

EDUCATION. 

Our  educational  advancement  within  the  past  ten  years 
has  been  at  an  unparalleled  pace.  The  school  enrollment 
of  our  youth  has  increased  at  a  rate  of  percentage  from  two 
to  fifty  times  a^  great  as  that  of  any  other  State  admitted 
into  the  Union  at  the  time  or  prior  to  the  time  of  our  own 
admission. 

We  have  3,000  schoolhouses,  or  one  to  every  375  inhabi- 
tants, 1,547  of  which  have  been  erected  within  the  past  ten 
years. 

We  have  one  college  or  seminary  for  every  22,000  inhabi- 
tants, over  two-thirds  of  which  have  been  erected  within  the 
past  decade. 

A  State  university  and  three  normal  schools  afibrd  free 
education  of  a  higher  order.  Two-fifths  of  our  State  tax  and 
half  of  our  county  taxes  support  our  public  schools.  W^e 
have  in  the  negro  districts  about  900  separate  schools  for  the 
colored  people.  Several  of  their  schoolhouses  cost  from 
$10,000  to  $20,000  each.  They  also  have  several  colleges, 
.and  the  State  supports  one  normal  school  for  colored  teachers. 

About  two  years  ago  Hon.  F.  P.  Laws  opened  at  his  own 
expense,  in  the  village  of  Beebe,  a  free  Bible  school,  which 
has  constantly'  grown  in  interest  under  the  management  of 
Mrs.  Julia  A.  Clark,  until  it  now  has  a  membership  of  235 
and  an  average  daily  attendance  of  thirty-five.  I  know  of 
no  other  such  institution  in  the  world.  The  good  it  is  accom- 
plishing shovild  awaken  general  interest  and  general  inquiry 
throughout  Christendom. 

SYSTEM    OF    LAWS. 

It  were  enough,  perhaps,  to  say  of  our  system  of  laws  that 


ARKANSAS.  J  <, 

two  years  ago  the  Congress,  controlled  by  a  political  party 
not  in  sympathy  with  a  majority  of  our  people,  selected  from 
the  statutes  of  Arkansas  the  entire  body  of  laws  by  which 
one  of  the  Territories  j)f  the  I'nion  is  governed. 

I  am  yery  much  in  doubt  if  there  is  a  community  in  the 
w^orld  of  equal  population  where  tlie  laws  are  more  gene- 
rally enforced  and  obeyed  than  in  this  State. 

The  carr\ing  of  concealed  weapons  is  in  Arkansas  a 
crime,  and  the  officers  of  tlie  hiw  are  themselves  liable  to 
prosecution  if  they  fail  to  prosecute  offenders  against  this 
statute. 

TEMl'KKANCK. 

Our  temperance  laws  are  said  by  competent  judges  to  be 
in  advance  of  those  of  any  other  State,  because,  being  the 
result  of  evolution,  growing  by  degrees  and  taking  hold  of 
one  community  at  a  time  as  public  sentiment  in  that  com- 
munity is  educated  up  to  an  appreciation  of  their  importance, 
the  laws  upon  this  subject  are  easily  and  completeh-  enforced. 

In  every  county  the  people  vote  at  each  biennial  election 
for  or  against  license,  and  even  when  the  counties  vote  for 
license,  a  majority  of  the  male  and  female  adults  in  any 
neighborhood  may  vote  it  away  from  within  three  miles  of 
any  church  or  schoolhouse  by  petition  to  the  county  author- 
ities. 

Under  this  process  of  evolution,  and  with  the  aid  of  female 
votes  or  petitions,  we  have  gradually  driven  Hcense  out  of 
some  thirty-five  of  the  seventy-five  counties,  and  awa\  from 
more  than  2,000  churches  and  sciioolliouses. 

Animated  by  such  religious  surroundings,  enlightened  by 
such  educational  facilities,  and  protected  b\-  such  a  system 
of  laws,  our  people  enjoN'  exceptional  saletw  both  of  lift'  and 
property . 

coi.oio:!)    i'i;()i'ij;. 

The   colored   race   are    found    in    numbiTs  onl\-  in  about  a 


1 6  ARKANSAS. 

third  of  the  State.  I  traveled  hist  summer  300  miles  in  the 
State  and  did  not  see  half  a  dozen  negroes  along  the  entire 
route. 

The  race  problem  is  here  no  longer  a  problem.  Matters 
have  adjusted  themselves  in  accordance  with  common  sense. 
The  Australian  ballot  has  eliminated  all  danger  from  igno- 
rance, and  the  free  public  school  system  is  fast  educating 
the  negro  in  the  duties  of  citizenship.  The  Christian  doc- 
trine of  the  universal  brotherhood  of  man  has  thrown  around 
him  the  mantle  of  protection  in  all  his  rights,  both  as  a  man 
and  as  a  citizen.  He  stands  before  our  law  the  equal  of  all 
other  men  :  yet  he  has  at  last  accepted  the  doctrine  that  the 
white  man  ought  and  will  rule  this  country.  The  white 
people  of  Arkansas  pay  nearly  the  entire  tax  which  sup- 
ports our  public  schools  ;  yet,  in  addition  to  educating  their 
own  children,  the  recent  census  shows  that  we  are  educating 
a  larger  percentage  of  the  negro  children  of  the  State  than 
New  Hampshire,  Connecticut,  Rhode  Island,  New  York, 
New  Jersey,  Pennsylvania,  and  even  cultured  Massachu- 
setts are  educating  of  their  own  children,  who  are  bone  of 
their  bone  and  flesh  of  their  flesh.  Vol.  I,  No.  11,  pages  5 
and  7. 

CLIMATE. 

Our  climate  is  proverbially  genial  and  healthy  in  the 
greater  part  of  the  State.  Our  death  rate  is  much  smaller 
than  in  most  of  the  Northern  States,  while  our  birth  rate  is 
nearly  double  that  of  most  of  our  sister  States  of  the  North. 
The  surgeon-general  of  the  United  States  army  reports,  I 
am  informed,  the  death  rate  of  troops  stationed  in  Arkansas 
less  than  at  anv  place  in  the  United  States. 

The  climate  of  Arkansas  is  so  favorable  to  both  animal 
and  vegetable  life  that  the  census  of  1880  (I  have  no  access 
to  that  of  1890  yet)  shows  the  monev  value  per  acre  of  her 
farm  products  to  be  greater  than  that  of  any  other  State  in 
the  Union   except  Louisiana.      In  one  portion  of  the  State 


ARKANSAS.  1 7 

the  apple  attains  a  perfection  that  has  not  yet  been  found 
anywhere  else  in  the  United  States.  They  have  excelled 
wherever  displaved  in  competition. 

A  commissioner  sent  out  by  the  Patent  Office  in  1859  ^^~ 
ported  to  the  Government  that  Arkansas  is  so  well  adapted 
to  the  culture  of  grape  that  the  rocky  hillsides  of  the  State, 
if  planted  to  the  vine,  would  prove  more  valuable  than  our 
best  cotton  lands.  He  said  also  that  wine  made  from  one 
species  of  our  native  grapes  had  been  taken  to  England  and 
pronounced  equal  to  the  best  foreign  wines. 

But  the  other  dav  the  Agricultural  Department  of  the 
United  States  reports  the  sorghum  of  Arkansas  the  best  in 
the  United  States. 

But  I  beg  to  leave  the  agricultural  and  horticultural  re- 
sources of  Arkansas  to  Hon.  W.  G.  Vincenheller,  extracts 
from  whose  paper  upon   these  subjects  are  liere  appended  : 

"Within  the  limits  of  our  State,  from  the  Mississippi  river 
to  the  Indian  Territory  line  and  from  Louisiana  to  Missouri, 
the  difference  of  altitude  between  the  alluvial  bottom  lands 
and  the  highlands  of  the  Ozark  mountains  produces  all  the 
climatic  and  other  characteristics  of  ten  degrees  of  latitude  ; 
thus  while  in  the  southern  part  of  the  State  all  the  varieties 
of  semi-tropical  fruits  and  plants  may  be  grown  succosstully, 
and  the  great  staple  'cotton'  is  produced  of  a  fineness  ot 
fibre  and  superiority  of  quality  not  excelled  by  any  other 
cotton  State,  the  leading  farm  products  and  staples  of  the 
Northern  States  can  be  easily  and  profitably  grown  in  all 
other  sections  of  the  State. 

"The  great  varietv  of  soils,  the  rolling  surface,  the  preva- 
lence of  springs,  creeks  and  rivers,  the  ecpiall}  distributed 
rainfall  and  temperature,  all  these  are  advantages  to  the  cul- 
tivator of  varieties  of  crops  such  as  no  other  State  has  in 
the  same  degree.     * 

"But  so  much  for  the  agricultural  characteristics  of  our 
State,  which  cannot  be  denied  to  be  great.  As  an  additional 
argument  in   our   favor,  we  now  desire  to  bring  in  evidence 


i8 


ARKANSAS. 


some  statistics  of  the  Department  of  Agriculture  of  the 
United  States,  in  which  we  hnd  a  very  favorable  showing 
for  Arkansas,  especially  when  we  take  into  account  that  the 
values  quoted  are  obtained,  as  before  stated,  without  the 
expense  of  fertilizers,  with  crude  machinery  and  indifferent 
labor : 

"The  average  value  of  farm  lands  in  twelve  Southern 
States  is  $7.04  per  acre. 

"The  average  value  of  farm  lands  in  Arkansas  is  $6.t6 
or  87^  per  cent,  of  the  latter. 

"  Now  when  we  consider  the  average  values  of  the  crops 
produced  in  these  States,  we  find  that  Arkansas  shows  of 

"  Cotton,  a  value  of 
"  Corn,  a  value  of  . 
"  Wheat,  a  value  of 
"Oats,  a  value  of  . 
"  Rye,  a  value  of 
"Tobacco,  a  value  of 
"  Potatoes,  a  value  of 

"  The  latter  crop,  being  planted  and  harvested  in  some  lo- 
calities twice  and  even  three  times  a  year,  increases  the  value 
considerably. 

HORTICULTURE. 

"The  geological  formation  of  Northwestern  Arkansas  is 
precisely  that  which  is  required  for  the  growing  of  perfect 
and  well-flavored  fruit  of  the  apple  varieties.  The  best 
apples  of  the  United  States  and  the  world  grow  in  localities 
where  the  carboniferous,  sub-carboniferous  and  the  silurian 
rocks  make  up  the  composition  of  the  soil,  and  in  North- 
west Arkansas,  from  the  Missouri  line  southward  to  the 
Arkansas  river,  we  find  these  conditions,  and  have  lime- 
stone of  the  chertv,  flinty  and  cave  character  in  the  Ozarks 
that  are  peculiarly  well  adapted  to  the  growing  and  maturing 
,  of  these  fine  fruits,  and  have  secured  to  them  the  premiums 
in  all  competitions. 


|20 

08 

ID 

07 

7 

23 

7 

68 

6 

57 

50 

22 

47 

14 

ARKANSAS.  I9 

"The  rock  formations  especially  fitted  for  the  culture  ot 
the  peach  are  somewhat  different  in  character,  for  peaches 
and  other  stone-fruits  require  more  iron  in  the  soil,  and  being 
of  a  semi-tropical  habit  need  a  light,  sandy,  ferruginous  soil 
to  mature  them  to  perfection,  and  this  condition  is  met  with 
in  Arkansas  south  of  the  Arkansas  river,  in  the  quartz  belt 
of  the  State,  and  there  it  is  where  the  peach  thrives  and 
flourishes. 

"While  the  pear  is  similar  in  its  geological  requirements 
to  the  apple,  it  thrives  best  and  is  more  free  from  disease  in 
a  well  sub-drained  sand}^  loam,  and  its  natural  habitat  being 
under  more  temperate  conditions  than  the  apple,  it  will  grow 
anywhere  in  Arkansas  where  sub-soils  are  not  of  an  imper- 
vious nature. 

"There  is  no  part  of  the  State  where  berries  and  grapes 
are  not  indigenous,  and  thev  can  be  cultivated  successfully 
everywhere  with  the  result  of  a  good  yield.  There  is,  there- 
fore, no  reason  w^hy  every  home  should  not  be  provided  with 
the  luxurv  of  a  grape  arbor  and  a  strawberry,  raspberry  or 
blackberry  patch. 

"The  growing  of  fruits  for  profit,  however,  depends 
mainly  upon  the  markets  you  can  reach  with  your  products, 
and  it  is  in  this  that  Arkansas  has  advantages  of  no  mean 
import,  Denver,  St.  Paul,  Kansas  City,  Lincoln,  Sioux  City, 
Chicago,  St.  Louis,  even  Salt  Lake  City,  being  prominent 
among  the  purchasers  of  Arkansas  apples  and  small  fruits, 
and  the  larger  cities  of  our  neighboring  State,  Texas,  draw 
their  supply  of  fruits  of  all  kinds  mainly  from  the  north- 
western part  of  Arkansas. 

"This  advantage  has  been  early  recognized  by  some  of 
the  more  enterprising  of  our  agriculturists,  and  to  such  an 
extent  has  the  litde  beginning  of  horticultural  industry  grown 
that,  while  five  years  ago  only  twenty-fi\e  crates  per  day 
were  shipped  to  St.  Louis  and  Western  markets,  from  five 
to  ten  car-loads  arc  now  sent  in  all  directions. 


20  AK  KANSAS. 

"The  oTiiin  and  manufactured  fruit  products  of  two  of  the 
northwestern  counties  amounted  last  year  to  nearly  two  mil- 
lions of  dollars. 

"Texas  and  the  far  West  are  the  most  ready  markets  for 
nearly  all  the  fruit  that  is  raised  in  the  northwestern  part, 
and  St.  Louis,  Chicago  and  the  city  of  Little  Rock  are  the 
markets  for  the  central  and  southern  parts  of  the  State. 
While  the  acreage  of  our  fruit  is  annually  increasing,  the 
supply  has  so  far  never  been  equal  to  the  demand,  tor  we 
are  so  located  that  we  get  our  early  fruit  into  the  North- 
western markets  ahead  of  any  other  fruit-growing  sections, 
and  our  late  Iruits  are  especially  called  for  by  our  sister 
States,  Texas,  Louisiana  and  Tennessee. 

"  Arkansas  apples  have  carried  off  the  principal  prizes  in 
the  competitive  exhibitions  at  New  Orleans,  Louisville.  New 
York,  Philadelphia,  and  Riverside,  and  stand  now  at  the 
head  of  the  list  and  are  inquired  for  ever3-where  ;  the  peach 
interest  also  has  been  growing  steadily  during  the  last  few^ 
years,  and  has  assumed  considerable  proportions,  especially 
where  transportation  facilities  bring  markets  within  a  sate 
distance. 

One  orchard  in  Franklin  county  shipped  last  year  2,300 
boxes  of  this  fruit  to  different  markets,  lor  which  60  cents  to 
$2.60  per  box  was  realized.  Those  wdio  make  peach-grow- 
ing a  pursuit  in  a  business  way  cannot  tail  to  obtain  good 
results  trom  their  investments,  and  Arkansas  offers  splendid 
locations  and  a  tine  climate  for  this  purpose. 

"The  superior  advantages  which  Arkansas  has  for  small 
fruit  enterprises  has  been  evidenced  not  only  by  the  work  of 
the  experiment  stations  within  the  State,  showing  the  cli- 
mate, soil,  humidity — all  are  found  to  be  favorable  here — but 
the  experience  of  investors  in  the  production  of  this  Iruit  as 
commercial  commodity,  has  realized  everywhere  handsome 
dividends. 

"With  main  arteries   of  transportation   radiating  from  the 


■■^z;?^: 


.^ 

^A^^^ 


ARKANSAS.  21 

cities  of  Little  Rock  and  Fort  Smith,  east  and  west,  north 
and  south,  to  business  centres,  distributing  points,  depots  of 
provisions  and  fields  of  consumption ;  with  a  constantly 
increasing  demand  for  our  early  and  late  luscious  fruits,  this 
branch  of  horticulture  is  a  field  for  investment  both  lucrative 
and  satisfactory. 

"Only  one  instance  need  be  cited  to  convince  the  inquirer 
what  is  and  w^hat  may  be  done  in  this  direction. 

"  The  Northwestern  Fruit  Growers  Association  shipped  last 
season  by  the  refrigerator-car  service  10,921  crates  of  berries 
to  Denver.  Col.,  St.  Paul,  Minn.,  Kansas  City,  Mo.,  Lincoln, 
Xeb.,  and  Sioux  City,  Iowa,  the  gross  sales  bringing  an  av- 
erage of  $2,171  P^^"  crate,  the  total  amount  of  receipts  being 
$23,763.96,  while  the  expense  of  this  service,  together  with 
commissions,  amounted  to  $8,563.87,  leaving  a  net  profit  of 
$15,200.09. 

"This  statement  does  not  take  into  account  the  large 
amount  of  berries  shipped  per  express  to  nearer  markets. 

"Viticulture  in  Arkansas,  w^here  the  grape  grows  wild 
everywhere  in  many  distinct  varieties,  has  proven  beyond  a 
doubt  that  our  State  is  destined  to  become  the  France  of 
America.  Those  wdio  have  given  them  a  trial,  who  have 
tested  the  vintage,  are  convinced  that  if  properly  encouraged 
and  protected  vineyards  will  return  thousandfold  to  tlie  intel- 
ligent investor. 

"We  give  an  example,  the  result  of  150  acres  planted  in 

grapes  in  Franklin  county,  100  acres  of  which  were  but  re- 

l     cent  plantations  and  not  in  full  bearing — the  average  yield 

of  this  grape  acreage  being  2,500  pounds  of  the  berry,  from 

which  9,000  gallons  of  w^ine  were  obtained. 

"In  the  neighborhood  of  cities  and  near  market  locations 
of  course  much  of  the  grape  crop  is  shipped  in  the  fruit,  but 
as  the  wine  is  of  superior  quality  and  flavor  and  increases 
in  value  with  age,  vineyards  mav  be  planted  anywhere  with 
'.Totit."" 


22  ARKANSAS. 


MINERALS. 


There  will  be  on  exhibition  from  Arkansas  at  Chicago 
soon,  a  chunk  of  crystalized  carbonate  of  zinc  ore,  having  only 
about  ten  per  cent,  of  waste  matter,  weighing  seven  tons. 
It  was,  together  with  another  similar  chunk  weighing  64,000 
pounds,  or  thirty-two  tons,  broken  from  a  boulder  on  the 
hillside,  which  has  been  cleared  off  until  there  has  been 
exposed  a  surface  block  of  13,000,000  pounds,  or  65,000  tons. 

We  have,  according  to  recent  geological  survey,  a  distri- 
bution of  216  square  miles  of  zinc  ore,  and  overlying  it  and 
around  it  we  have  2,199  square  miles  of  marble,  the  same 
as  Tennessee  marbles. 

We  have  2,347  square  miles  of  coal.  Ten  years  ago  we 
mined  only  about  5.000  tons  of  coal  ;  in  1889,  only  279,000 
from  twenty-seven  mines.  We  have  now  in  operation  sev- 
enty-eight mines  and  the  output  is  variously  estimated  from 
750,000  to  1,250,000  tons  annuallv. 

We  have  thirteen  square  miles  of  granite  (building  stone), 
305  square  miles  of  novaculite  or  whetstone  rock — famous 
all  over  the  world  ;  126  square  miles  of  manganese,  not  in- 
cluding ores  of  lower  grade  ;  7,300  square  miles  of  lime- 
stone, available  for  lime  and  building  stone;  1.295  square 
miles  of  pottery  clavs,  2,140  square  miles  of  clays  suitable 
tor  vitritied  brick,  and  612  square  miles  of  clav  for  pressed 
brick  of  the  highest  grade.  We  have  also  alum  shales,  the 
outcrop  of  which  is  375  miles  in  length.  We  have  200  acres 
of  chalk,  available  for  the  manufacture  of  highest  grade  of 
Portland  cement. 

We  have  640  acres  of  bauxite  or  aluminum  ore,  and  but 
the  other  da}-  we  discovered  large  deposits  of  red  and  3'el- 
low  ochre. 

We  have  also  inexhaustible  beds  of  gypsum  and  marl. 

We  have  the  largest  hardwood  trees  yet  discovered  in  the 
world. 


%' 


■■<  * 


i-i,. 


ARKANSAS.  23 

I  will  conclude  by  appending  extracts  from  a  paper  by 
W.  S.  Thomas  : 

"The  geographical  position  and  physical  conformation  ol 
Arkansas  give  it  a  variety  and  quality  of  products  which  are 
the  wonder  of  all  investigators.  It  is  in  the  same  latitude 
where  the  human  family  had  its  birth,  where  civilization  has 
made  its  greatest  advancement  in  past  ages,  and  where  our 
Saviour  had  His  earthly  home.  Within  a  space  of  three  hun- 
dred miles,  from  the  southeast  to  the  northwest  corner  of  the 
State,  are  to  be  found  the  climate  and  other  characteristics 
of  ten  degrees  of  latitude.  The  altitude  of  the  southeastern 
part  of  the  State  does  not  exceed  250  feet  above  tidewater. 
From  this  point  the  country  rises  to  the  northwest,  where  on 
the  plateau  it  attains  an  altitude  of  2,500  feet,  while  the 
mountain  peaks  reach  in  the  neighborhood  of  3,000  feet. 
This  altitude  gives  the  State  ten  degrees  of  latitude,  which 
equals  in  its  agricultural  products  the  space  trom  the  Gulf 
of  Mexico  to  the  Northern  lakes  ;  as  it  were,  the  agricultural 
products  of  the  Northern  and  Southern  States  here  meet  and 
lap  over.  Our  State  produces  the  crops  of  both  sections, 
such  as  northern  cereals  and  grasses,  as  well  as  cotton  and 
other  semi-tropical  vegetation.  It  is  not  uncommon  to  see 
on  the  same  farm  wheat,  oats,  grasses,  cotton,  and  tobacco 
growing.  As  to  the  quality  and  quantity  of  our  products, 
we  are  so  tavored  with  climate  and  soil  that  we  have  but 
few  equals  and  no  superiors.  Of  some  of  the  Northern  pro- 
ducts we  are  able  to  raise  two  crops  the  same  season  on  the 
same  land. 

"We  grow  every  textile  Hbre  used  in  the  arts.  Our  cotton 
has  been  acknowledged  as  superior  to  any  other  except  Sea 
Island,  by  the  awards  of  money  and  medals  it  has  received 
at  the  many  competing  exhibits  where  it  has  been  shown, 
and  we  produce  more  per  hand  than  any  other  State.  Hut 
little  attention  has  been  giyen  to  hemp,  llax.  jute,  ramie  and 
kindred  fibres,  but  suthcient  to  know,  if  other  conditions  were 


24  ARKANSAS. 

favorable,  they  could  be  grown  with  proHt.  It  is  stated  by 
the  United  States  Department  of  Agriculture,  in  the  report 
on  sheep  husbandry  in  tiie  United  States,  that  the  wool 
from  sheep  introduced  from  other  States  improves  in  the 
quality  of  its  fibre  and  the  quantity  of  the  fleece,  and  that 
the  physical  condition  of  the  animal  is  improved  if  imported 
from  the  East. 

"  As  a  stock-raising  region  the  capabilities  of  Arkansas 
have  been  most  sadly  neglected.  With  the  advantages  of  our 
climate,  water,  and  variet}'  of  foods,  more  attention  should 
be  given  to  this  important  branch  of  many  industries. 
Over  a  hundred  and  fifty  varieties  of  native  grasses 
are  found  in  the  State,  and  all  of  the  most  desirable  culti- 
vated grasses  of  the  North  do  remarkably  well,  as  I  have 
proven  for  the  past  dozen  years  on  my  farm  in  the  central 
part  of  the  State.  We  have  other  superior  animal  foods 
peculiar  to  the  South  that  outrank  in  value  those  before  men- 
tioned, Bermuda  grass,  Japan  clover,  and  cow^  or  stock  peas, 
with  cotton  seed,  whether  used  in  its  natural  state  or  in  the 
form  of  meal  ;  all  these  have  more  nutritious  value  as  flesh 
and  butter  producers  than  any  food  grown  north  of  the 
thirty-seventh  parallel.  This  fact  has  been  demonstrated 
by  cattle-feeders  who  have  fed  at  the  same  time  on  corn  in 
Kansas,  and  on  cotton-seed  meal  in  Little  Rock,  marketing 
both  herds  in  the  same  market.  In  the  northern  and  west- 
ern part  of  the  State  there  is  a  large  acreage  of  country  won- 
derfully adapted  to  sheep-raising,  and  where  the  annual  cost 
of  keeping  a  sheep  in  the  same  condition  would  be  less  than 
half  the  expense  in  Michigan,  Ohio  or  any  other  Northern 
State.  I  have  practically  investigated  this  matter,  and  can 
vouch  for  the  truth  of  the  statement. 

"  With  our  great  variety  of  foods  and  other  advantages, 
hogs  can  be  raised  at  less  cost  than  in  the  corn  region  of 
the  Northwest. 

"Those  who  have  given  the  subject  attention  say  no  coun- 


PUBLIC  SCHOOL,  (Colored)  FORT  SMITH,  ARKANSAS 
Cost    iio,'  oc. 


ARKANSAS.  25 

try  can  excel  Arkansas  in  the  breeding  of  horses.  Up  to 
the  present  time  this  industry  has  received  but  a  small 
amount  of  the  attention  its  importance  demands,  but  now 
;■  some  efforts  are  being  made  to  introduce  improved  breeds 
j  of  horses,  cattle,  sheep  and  hogs,  with  very  satisfactory  re- 
sults. 

"As  u  fruit  region  this  State  has  been  termed  by  the 
United  States  Pomologist,  '  the  seedling  ground  of  America,' 
having  produced  more  valuable  seedling  apples  than  any 
other  part  of  the  country.  Not  only  have  apples  made  our 
State  noted  by  their  excellence,  but  we  rank  equall}^  high 
as  a  grape  and  berry  region. 

"In  regard  to  Arkansas  as  a  grape-growing  region,  a 
volume  might  be  written,  and  then  its  advantages  remain 
untold.  Our  climate  and  soil  combined  produce  a  (juality 
of  fruit  that  has  attracted  the  attention  of  vineyardist  both 
in  this  country  and  Europe.  Nicholas  Longworth,  of  Ohio, 
father  of  the  wine  industry  in  this  country,  found  growing 
wild  in  the  Arkansas  river  a  variety  that  he  introduced  into 
his  vineyard,  considering  it  superior  to  any  he  had  in  culti- 
vation for  making  wine.  In  our  mountain  regions  grapes 
suitable  for  the  table  have  been  found  of  such  unusual  excel- 
lence as  to  call  for  a  special  report  from  the  United  States 
Department  of  Agriculture  as  early  as  1859. 

"  In  short,  our  pears  and  peaches  are  unexcelled  in  size, 
color  and  flavor.  Arkansas  produces  every  variety  of  fruit 
grown  in  the  temperate  zone,  and  even  borders  on  the  semi- 
tropical.  At  the  meeting  of  the  American  Pomological  So- 
ciety, held  in  Boston,  vSeptember  15.  1887,  we  exhibited 
sixty-eight  new  varieties  of  apples,  and  were  avyarded  the 
Wilder  medal,  the  highest  honor  in  the  gift  of  the  society. 
At  the  Cotton  Centennial  World's  Fair,  held  in  New  Orleans, 
where  22,000  plates  of  fruit  were  on  exhibition.  Arkansas 
not  only  received  the  highest  award  for  the  best  individual 
apple,  but  for  the   largest  and   best   collection.      California. 


26  ARKANSAS. 

at  Riverside,  Febi-uary  7,  1888,  the  Arkansas  exhibit  was 
spoken  of  by  the  press  as  the  largest  and  best  display  of 
apples  ever  made  on  the  Pacific  coast. 

"At  the  American  Institute  in  New  York  city,  October, 
1890,  every  premium  Arkansas  contended  for  in  fruit  was 
awarded  her,  and  the  State  was  highly  complimented  by  the 
agricultural  press  of  the  city  and  country.  In  this  connec- 
tion I  will  say  that  the  most  desirable  Japan  fruits  have  been 
tested  in  the  central  and  southern  parts  and  found  to  thrive 
and  produce  as  well  as  in  their  native  land. 

"The  timbers  of  Arkansas  are  her  glory,  and  one  of  the 
greatest  sources  of  her  wealth:  she  has  129  native  species 
of  wood,  most  of  them  of  commercial  value.  It  has  been 
stated  by  competent  judges  that,  if  this  crop  were  properly 
harvested  and  marketed,  the  proceeds  would  pvnxhase  ever}- 
acre  of  land  in  Kansas,  Nebraska  or  the  Dakotas  at  its 
assessed  value. 

"  Every  variety  of  hickory  that  grows  on  this  continent  is 
found  in  Arkansas. 

"There  were  shipped  out  of  the  State  during  the  past 
twelve  months  560,000,000  feet  of  yellow  pine,  and  fully  as 
mvich,  if  not  more,  of  hard  woods.  Many  of  our  woods  are 
in  demand  for  cabinet  work  ;  our  pine,  cypress,  oak,  ash, 
etc.,  are  finding  a  large  market  in  the  Northern  and  North- 
eastern States  for  the  interior  iinish  of  buildings. 

"It  was  acknowledged  by  the  Indiana  Lumber  Dealers 
Association,  lately  visiting  our  State,  that  Arkansas  pro- 
duced the  best  pine  linishing  lumber  in  the  world.  Indiana 
said  this,  not  Arkansas.  Our  ash  is  of  such  a  quality  that 
it  is  in  demand  over  the  civilized  world  for  purposes  where 
no  other  timber  can  be  substituted.  We  have  the  largest 
oar  manufactory  in  the  world,  which  not  only  supplies  the 
navy  of  the  United  States,  but  also  those  of  England  and 
France<  the  demand  being  such  that  the  plant  requires  en- 
largement from  time  to  time. 


ARKANSAS.  27 

"This  is  but  one  of  the  many  industries  our  forests  offer 
to  the  hand  of  enterprise  and  skill,  A  few  days  ago  I  was 
shown  a  collection  of  thirt}'  varieties  of  our  woods  found  in 
commercial  quantities,  tinished  in  their  natural  state  with  the 
design  of  showing  their  value  for  interior  decoration  and 
cabinet  work. 

"  Before  passing  the  timbers  1  must  refer  to  the  use  of  our 
sweet  gum  for  the  manufacture  of  wood  pulp.  It  is  found 
in  all  parts  of  the  State,  and  has  little  if  any  commercial 
value. 

"■  I  have  had  it  tested  tor  making  wood  pulp,  and  it  proved 
equal  in  every  respect  to  the  woods  used  tor  the  same  pur- 
pose at  the  North,  while  the  price  is  but  a  small   fraction  of 

what  thev  cost. 

^-  ******  * 

"  In  Sevier  county,  near  the  southwest  corner  of  the  State, 
is  the  only  localitv  in  the  United  States  east  of  the  Rocky 
mountains  where  antimony  has  been  found  in  sufficient  quan- 
tity to  be  of  commercial  value.  Analysis  shows  the  antimo- 
nial  ores  of  Arkansas  to  be  equal  to  the  celebrated  ores  of 
Borneo,  and  they  are  found  distributed  over  a  large  extent 
of  country,  reaching  from  the  grass  roots  to  an  unknown 
distance,  increasing  in  value  with  depth.  In  1889,  about 
$10,000  in  value  of  this  ore  was  shipped  to  Philadelphia  for 
reduction.  This  mineral,  like  many  others  we  possess,  is 
deprived  of  cheap  transportation,  but  we  expect  that  will 
soon  be  supplied,  when  we  shall  be  able  to  furnish  this  metal 

for  the  many  important  purposes  demanded  by  the  arts. 
******** 

"It  is  to  the  unmetallic  minerals  that  Arkansas  looks  loi- 
her  greatest  sources  of  wealth  and  prosperity.  Her  acreage 
of  coal  is  2,500,000,  with  a  thickness  in  excess  of  that  shown 
b}^  any  other  State,  and  more  varieties  than  are  found  in  the 
same  area  on  the  continent.  They  range  in  quality  from  lig- 
nite to  nearly  pure  anthracite,  and  are  adapted  for  steaming, 
coking,  gas  manufacturing  and  domestic  purposes. 


28  ARKANSAS. 

"The  older  coals  are  found  in  the  western-central  part  of 
the  State,  and  are  cheaply  mined.  The  lignite  commences 
in  the  centre  and  widens  as  the  deposit  extends  south  into 
Texas  and  Louisiana.  Owing  to  our  vast  woodlands,  the 
the  lignite  or  brown  coal  has  little  commercial  worth  at 
present ;  but  when  the  value  of  fuel  gas  is  better  understood 
this  coal  will  be  sought  for.  Coal  mining  in  this  State  had 
not  assumed  commercial  importance  until  within  the  past 
few  years.  In  1892  the  output  was  739,300  tons,  valued  at 
$1,212,410.  A  large  per  cent,  of  this  coal  found  a  market 
in  Kansas,  Louisiana  and  other  neighboring  States.  On 
account  of  the  variety  and  quality  of  the  coal,  this  industry 
bids  fair  to  increase  rapidly. 

''Among  the  minerals  that  our  State  has  been  especially 
favored  with  is  a  deposit  of  soapstone,  or  steatite,  found  four- 
teen miles  south  of  Little  Rock,  It  is  said  to  be  the  only 
localitv  of  this  mineral  now  known  in  the  Mississippi  Valley. 
*  **  *  **  *  * 

''In  Independence  and  Lawrence  counties  we  have  in 
quantity  infusorial  earths  used  for  cleansing  and  polishing 
purposes,  which  have  been  tested  for  their  value,  but  not 
developed. 

"  Arkansas  is  favored  with  a  wonderful  variety  of  valuable 
clays,  including  every  kind  used  by  potters  for  from  com- 
mon salt-glazed  stoneware  to  the  finest  Sevres  china.  It  is 
doubtful  if  there  is  a  spot  in  the  world  where,  within  the 
same  space,  all  the  raw  materials  used  in  the  ceramic  art  are 
found  in  such  close  proximity  as  in  this  State.  With  the 
exception  of  feldspar,  there  is  not  an  ingredient  lacking  that 
enters  into  the  composition  of  any  of  the  wares  spoken  of, 
and  nowhere  else,  to  my  knowledge,  does  the  same  condi- 
tion exist. 

"  In  this  connection  I  will  call  attention  to  a  compara- 
tively new  mineral  closely  related  to  kaolin  or  china  clay — 
baiixite.     It  was   first  discovered   in   France,   but   did   not 


ARKANSAS. 


^9 


come  into  use  till  1868.  It  is  an  oxide  ot' aluminum,  and  is 
iised  tor  producing  that  metal  and  alum.  Philadelphia, 
Syracuse,  Buffalo,  and  Brooklyn,  N.  Y.,  last  year  consumed 
about  5,000  tons  ot' this  mineral  in  the  manufacture  of  alum. 
North  Carolina.  Georgia,  Alabama,  and  Arkansas  are  the 
only  States  where  bauxite  has  been  found  in  commercial 
quantities.  The  Arkansas  deposits  are  quite  extensive,  of 
^excellent  quality,  and  located  from  ten  to  thirty-  miles  from 
Little  Rock." 

In  Logan  count}'  petroleum  and  natural  gas  are  beino- 
sought,  with  prospects  of  success,  and  a  natural-gas  well 
has  been  bored  near  the  city  of  Fort  Smith,  and  for  six  \ears 
it  has  been  burning  night  and  day. 

W.    M.    FiSHBACK, 

Governor  of  Arkansas. 


PAPER  PREPARED  BY 


THOMAg  Ck.  JONEj$, 


G(^vefin^r  (bi  Alate^a. 


ALABAMA, 


ITS  LOCATION,  RESOURCES,  ADVANTAGES,  NEEDS  AND 

DESCRIPTION. 


Alabama  invites  the  immigration  of  capital,  skilled  labor 
and  enterprise ;  indeed,  of  all  men  who  will  add  to  the 
strength  and  vigor  and  well-being  of  the  Commonwealth. 

Alabama  is  a  well-equipped  State,  and  has  entered  with 
greatly  encouraging  results  the  race  for  a  position  of  leader- 
ship among  the  Commonwealths  of  the  Union.  The  least 
flourishing  of  her  institutions  are  her  poorhouses.  Not  that 
her  several  counties  have  failed  to  make  ample  public  pro- 
vision for  this  last  misfortune  of  poverty  ;  but  neither  the 
very  wealthy  nor  the  very  poor  are  numerous  in  Alabama^ 
the  comforts  of  life  being  well  distributed,  and  the  condi- 
tions of  earning  a  livelihood  easy  be3'ond  the  thought  of 
men  in  colder  climes. 

A  State  with  more  than  a  million  and  a  half  of  people 
and  a  wealth,  upon  the  earth  and  beneath  the  earth,  em- 
bracing nearly  every  raw  product  of  the  United  States, 
might  be  challenged  with  the  inquirv.  Why  do  ^•ou  not  take 
care  of  your  own  development? 

Alabama  has  an  area  of  52,250  square  miles,  more  than 
Pennsylvania  or  New  York,  vet  she  has  less  than  one-third 
the  population  of  the   former   and    less   than    one-fourth   tlu* 


34  ALABAMA. 

p()]-)ulati()n  of  tlie  latter.  She  is,  in  fact,  as  a  whole  sparsely 
populated,  one-half  her  arable  lands  being  as  yet  untouched 
by  the  plow  ;  vast  stretches  of  her  forests  have  never  heard 
the  ring  of  the  woodman's  axe  ;  great  areas  of  her  min- 
eral fields  are  still  unexamined  and  unsurveyed,  and  the 
wealth  of  her  rivers  and  her  bavs  has  as  3'et  been  little 
vexed  bv  fishermen's  fleets  or  the  oysterman's  intrusion. 
There  is  wealth  to  be  garnered  and  work  to  do  for  five  mil- 
lion thrifty  people. 

Prior  to  1880  the  State  was  in  a  formative  period,  re- 
organizing the  disarrangements  of  war,  and  the  people 
adapting  themselves  to  new  conditions.  The  problem  was 
to  live.  Yet  from  the  very  moment  that  war's  alarms  had 
ceased  they  began,  not  onlv  the  rebuilding  of  that  which 
was  overturned,  but  to  build  new  institutions  and  develop 
every  source  of  their  wealth.  By  the  j'ear  1880  they  were 
fairly  entered  on  that  career  of  progress  whose  results  have 
astonished  themselves,  and  now  enable  them  with  candor 
and  simple  statement  to  invite  capital  to  safe  investment, 
skilled  labor  to  remunerative  employment,  and  enterprise  to 
an  unlimited  field  for  the  successful  exertion  of  its  activities. 

Taking  1880  as  the  period  when  the  rebound  from  the 
disaster  of  civil  war  became  effective,  some  facts  stand  out 
to  catch  the  eye  and  appeal  to  the  reason  and  interest  of 
mankind. 

From  then  to  now  tax  values  have  increased  from  $139,— 
000,000  to  $260,000,000. 

The  rate  of  taxation  has  decreased  tVom  65  cents  on  the 
$100  to  50  cents  on  the  $100. 

The  acreage  of  cotton,  the  great  money  crop  of  the  State, 
has  increased  from  2,330.000  acres  to  2,761,000  acres,  and 
the  yield  from  699,000  bales  to  915,000  bales. 

The  acreage  of  corn,  the  great  food  crop  of  the  State,  has 
increased  from  2,056,000  acres  to  2,513,000  acres,  and  the 
product  from  29,079,000  bushels  to  30,666.000  bushels. 


ALABAMA. 


.•o 


The  production  of  pig  iron  has  increased  from  77,000  tons 
per  annum  to  1,000,000  tons  per  annum. 

The  number  of  blast  furnaces  has  increased  from  15  to  52, 
and  the  capital  invested  from  $3,000,000  to  $16,500,000. 

The  output  of  coal  has  increased  from  340,000  tons  to 
6,000,000  tons,  and  the  capital  invested  from  $2,870,000  to 
$9,600,000. 

The  railroad  mileage  has  increased  from  1.726  miles  to 
3,261  miles. 

Saw-mills  have  increased  from  a  number  so  small  that  no 
record  was  kept  to  more  than  200.  with  an  annual  cut  of 
300,000,000  feet. 

The  number  of  public  school  teachers  has  increased  from 
less  than  4,000  to  6,291,  while  private  schools  and  colleges 
exhibit  a  similar  gratifying  rate  of  expansion. 

The  State  appropriation  for  public  schools  has  been  in- 
creased $220,000.  the  total  amount  now  paid  out  b^'  the  State 
for  public  education  being  more  than  one-half  of  its  entire 
general  revenue  derived  from  taxation  of  property-. 

These  leading  facts  of  comparison  and  expansion  are 
mentioned  as  general  landmarks  that  arrest  the  attention 
upon  the  undisputable  truth  that  Alabama  is  a  growing  and 
developing  Commonwealth,  with  an  energetic  and  aspiring 
people,  whose  enterprise  is  equal  to  prodigies,  despite  the  sore 
lack  of  money  which  afflicted  them  in  the  beginning,  and 
despite  the  want  of  skill  for  the  arts  of  manufacturing  among 
a  population  so  latelv  and  almost  exclusively  engaged  in 
agricultural  pursuits.  The  aspiration  and  the  will  to  grow 
are  deep-seated  and  have  spread  to  the  remotest  rural  com- 
munities, and  this  spirit  has  supplied  in  a  few  short  years 
the  skill  employed  in  a  manufacturing  system  rapidly  becom- 
ing elaborate  and  complete.  This  same  progress  among  the 
people,  bringing  into  commercial  forms  the  measureless 
wealth  of  nature,  has  attracted  and  tixed  the  confidence  of 
outside  capital  so  that  it  has  already  invested  more  than 
$50,000,000  in  local  enterprises,  whih'   the  securities  of  the 


36  ALABAMA. 

State  itself  and  its  counties  and  its  cities  and  its  financial 
institutions  compare  in  the  mone}'  markets  with  those  of  the 
old  and  wealth}'  sections  of  the  country. 

But  further  than  these  leading  facts,  which  bear  their  own 
testimony  to  the  world,  the  prudent  investor  and  home- 
seeker  will  inquire  into  those  general  conditions  of  society, 
industry  and  government  which  make  life  pleasant,  render 
the  attainment  of  its  comforts  and  conveniences  eas}-,  and 
give  permanency  to  values  and  cause  property  to  be  at  once 
secure  and  remunerative.     And  first  as  to 

GOVERNMENT. 

The  government  of  Alabama  is  securely  in  the  hands  of 
the  intelligent,  the  conservative  and  the  frugal  among  her 
people.  The}'  have  resisted  every  encroachment  of  that 
element,  which  exists  in  everv  State,  that  nurses  "  fads  "  and 
''isms,"  and  that  acts  unthinking  of  the  real  purposes  and 
limitations  of  political  power.  The  constitution  limits  and 
confines  the  expenditure  of  tax  money  to  the  necessities  of 
the  government,  while  the  conservatism  of  the  people  stead- 
ily refuses  to  sanction  enlargements  of  appropriations  save 
for  the  upbuilding  of  the  common  school  system  and  the 
maintenance  of  needful  public  institutions,  which  must  ex- 
pand with  the  growth  of  population. 

The  energies  of  the  State  are  devoted  to  the  protection 
of  life  and  property  and  the  administration  of  prudent  laws, 
with  the  view  that  the  individual  and  corporate  energies  of 
her  people  may  act  with  safety  and  freedom.  The  wisdom 
and  security  of  this  settled  policy  is  well  borne  out  by  the 
progress  which,  under  its  shelter,  private  enterprise  has 
Avrought  in  the  past  twelve  years. 

The  maximum  limit  of  taxation  by  the  State  is  75  cents 
on  the  $100  :  by  the  counties  it  is  50  cents  on  the  $100,  and 
by  the  cities  it  is  50  cents  on  the  $100.  So  that  the  highest 
taxation  tor  all  purposes,  except   tor  payment  of  debts  con- 


ALABAMA. 


.-»/ 


tracted  prior  to  the  constitution,  permissible  under  the  or- 
ganic law  is  $1.75  on  the  $100 — a  rate  exceeded  by  the 
municipal  taxes  alone  of  most  of  the  cities  of  the  country. 
As  a  matter  of  fact,  the  State  levies  50  cents,  and  the  coun- 
ties vary  from  25  cents  to  45  cents. 

PUBLIC    INSTITUTIONS. 

The  triumph  of  prudence  and  wisdom  in  public  expendi- 
ture is  nowhere  better  illustrated  than  in  the  stead\-  reduc- 
tion of  taxation  in  Alabama,  along  with  the  steadv  expan- 
sion of  every  institution  within  her  borders.  Her  State 
University,  left  a  heap  of  rubbish  by  the  war,  has  risen  in 
statel}^  beauty  and  completeness,  a  credit  to  the  civilization 
of  the  Republic. 

Her  Aijricultural  and  Mechanical  College,  founded  since 
the  days  of  civil  strife,  is  among  the  first  institutions  of 
learning  in  the  South,  and  as  a  technological  school  ranks 
with  the  best  in  the  country.  The  departments  of  mechanic 
arts,  of  engineering  and  drawing,  the  agricultural  experi- 
ment station  and  the  laboratories  give  practical  instruction 
in  modern  useful  arts  to  more  than  250  boys  and  girls  per 
annum,  and  illustrate  that  Alabama  is  in  touch  with  the 
practical  drift  of  things. 

Five  special  agricultural  experiment  stations  have  been 
established,  distributed  with  reference  to  the  various  soils 
and  to  the  geography  of  the  State,  to  four  of  which  are  at- 
tached schools  of  a  practical  character  and  iiigh  grailo. 

Four  normal  colleges  are  maintained  for  the  wiiites  and 
two  for  the  negroes,  supplying  intelligent  and  progressi^•e 
modernized  teachers  for  the  public  schools. 

A  medical  college  is  maintained  at  Mobile,  and  is  one  of 
the  oldest  and  best  accredited  institutions  of  the  kind  in  tlu* 
country. 

The  Methodist,  Baptist  and  Catholic  denominations  main- 
tain colleges  or  universities  that  compare  taxorably  with  those 


38  ALABAMA. 

sustained  by  the  State,  while  female  colleges  of  thoroughness 
and  long  establishment  are  well  conducted  in  every  section 
of  the  State,  and  there  are  numerous  private  schools  which 
have  acquired  a  State  reputation. 

Institutes  of  free  instruction  for  the  blind  and  the  deaf  and 
dumb  are  conducted  by  the  State,  as  is  an  hospital  for  the 
insane,  whose  condition  and  system  are  a  credit  to  the  en- 
lightened humanity  of  the  American  continent. 

A  live  and  progressive  Agricultural  Department  in  the 
State  government  keeps  the  spirit  of  progress  among  the 
farmers  abreast  of  the  age,  and  each  year  sees  an  improve- 
ment in  farm  methods  and  farm  equipments. 

A  Railroad  Commission  looks  after  the  interests  of  the 
people,  at  the  same  time  being  limited  in  its  power  to  deal 
rashly  with  the  railroads  themselves. 

A  Board  of  Managers  of  convicts  is  now  at  work  changing 
the  lease  system  to  one  more  in  accordance  with  the  enlight- 
ened spirit  of  the  age. 

Every  old  and  established  religious  denomination  has  its 
churches,  and  no  incomer  will  be  lost  in  a  multitude  of 
strangers  to  his  faith  and  tenets. 

Orphanages  and  hospitals  are  public  benevolences,  main- 
tained and  well  maintained  by  the  munificence  of  church 
and  private  and  municipal  charitv. 

A  State  Geological  Bureau  is  actively  engaged  in  survey- 
ing and  examining  in  a  scientific  way  the  mineral  deposits 
of  the  State. 

AGRICULTURE. 

The  chief  emplojinent  and  the  chief  source  of  wealth  of 
the  people  of  Alabama  is  the  tillage  of  the  soil.  The  geo- 
graphical situation  and  topographical  structure  of  the  terri- 
torial area  that  makes  the  State  of  Alabama  render  her  soil 
productions  more  varied  than  those  of  any  other  Arqerican 
Commonwealth,  with  one  possible  exception.  On  her  south- 
ern coast,  along  the  Gulf  of  Mexico  and  the  bavs  and  inlets. 


ALABAMA. 


39 


the  oraiiije  and  oyster  flourish  within  each  others  sia'ht, 
and  there  is  a  wealth  of  all  the  semi-tropical  truits  and 
flowers.  The  soil  is  peculiarly  adapted  to  market  i:^arden- 
ing,  and  the  shipment  of  early  vegetables  to  the  far  Northern 
markets  has  developed  into  a  business  worth  millions  of 
money  and  giving  employment  to  man}-  thousands  of  people. 
Mobile  has  become  one  of  the  flrst  vegetable  shipping  mar- 
kets of  the  continent,  while  stations  along  her  railroads  for 
miles  into  the  interior  have  become  places  of  great  shipping 
activity.  The  productions  range  from  that  staple  article  of 
diet,  the  potato,  to  that  most  highly  prized  of  all  the  fruits, 
the  luscious  strawberry,  whose  natural  and  original  home 
seems  to  have  been  in  the  pine  districts  of  Alabama. 

Above  the  coast  and  stretching  across  the  State  in  a  great 
belt  a  hundred  miles  wide,  is  the  long-leaf  yellow^  pine  dis- 
trict of  the  Gulf  region.  Here  the  soil  is  comparatively 
thin,  and  was  regarded  by  the  old  cotton  plantation  owners 
as  comparatively  worthless.  The  discovery  of  the  phosphate 
mines  of  the  Carolinas  and  of  Florida  and  the  utilization  of 
the  meal  of  cotton  seed,  were  developments  on  which  the 
small  white  farmer  eagerly  seized.  By  their  aid  he  has 
transformed  a  large  portion  of  this  section  into  the  agricul- 
tural garden  spot  of  the  State,  a  region  of  small  farms,  fru- 
gality and  prosperit}'.  The  agricultural  home-seeker  of 
small  means,  wdiether  from  the  colder  States  of  this  country 
or  from  Europe,  wmII  flnd  this  region  worthy  his  careful 
attention.  Large  areas  of  these  pine  lands  are  still  in  the 
hands  of  the  government  awaiting  the  ownersiiip  of  him 
who  w^ill  come  and  take  them,  while  vast  stretches  of  forest, 
as  they  yearly  go  down  before  the  march  ot'  the  grrat  saw- 
mill and  turpentine  companies,  leave  lands  available  to  the 
settler  at  a  song's  cost.  The  population  of  the  region  is 
mostly  white. 

Above  this  region  of  jiine  trees  and  small  farnu'rs,  and 
stretching  across  the  centre  of  the  State  from  east  to  west, 
is  the  ofreat  Black  belt,  so  named  from  the  colcn-  of  its  rich 


40  ALABAMA. 

and  productive  soil.  A  large  portion  of  these  lands  are 
prairies  of  almost  inexhaustible  natural  fertility,  while  an- 
other large  proportion  are  the  rich  alluvial  deposits  along 
the  banks  of  the  rivers  and  large  streams,  which  make  it 
one  of  the  best-watered  agricultural  districts  in  the  world. 
Cotton  and  corn  are  the  chief  products  of  the  plantation 
system  of  farming  in  vogue,  though  the  grasses  are  culti- 
vated to  some  extent  and  yield  extravagant  returns,  while 
considerable  attention  is  given  to  the  cereals  and  the  orchard 
fruits. 

It  is  the  region  of  the  great  anti-bellum  system  of  planta- 
tions, and  inherits  conditions  which  make  these  fertile  coun- 
ties so  inviting  a  field  at  this  time  for  the  stock-raiser  and 
the  colonist.  Large  bodies  of  land  of  high  fertility  and 
improvement  can  be  had  at  prices  that  seem  ridiculously 
low  compared  with  their  real  productive  value — $5  and  $10 
for  an  acre  richly  worth  from  $20  to  $40.  The  land-holders 
are  land  poor,  with  more  than  thev  have  capital  to  operate, 
and  capital  could  find  no  more  inviting  field  than  to  pur- 
chase these  plantations  and  divide  them  into  small  farms  to 
be  settled  by  immigrants  of  small  means. 

It  is  not  improbable  that  our  own  people,  whether  outside 
capital  and  enterprise  come  to  their  aid  or  not,  will  before 
many  years  transform  the  plantations  into  one  of  the  great 
stock-raising  districts  of  the  countrv,  that  industrv  being  in 
high  tavor,  although  it  has  not  yet  progressed  to  the  extent 
of  affecting  the  cheapness  of  land  prices. 

This  favored  region  is  penetrated  by  four  navigable  rivers, 
and  by  numerous  railroads,  and  is  almost  everywhere  health- 
ful, the  only  exceptions  being  the  neighborhood  of  a  few 
swamps.  It  is  true  that  the  earning  of  a  livelihood  is  a  mat- 
ter of  fewer  da^^s'  labor  in  the  Black  belt  of  Alabama  than 
in  any  other  region  of  the  world  outside  the  American  Gulf 
States. 

Above  the  Black  or  Prairie  belt  is  the  mountain  region, 
an  alternation  of  hill  and  valley  and  table-land  that  extends 


ALABAMA. 


4' 


from  east  to  west  across  the  State,  and  from  north  to  south 
for  one  hundred  and  tlfty  miles.  The  altitude  is  high,  the 
air  bracing,  the  valleys  numerous,  extensi\'e  and  productive, 
and  the  population  mostly  a  class  of  small  white  farmers. 
The  production  of  cotton  is  less  ready  than  in  the  region 
below,  but  the  altitude  cools  the  air  and  gives  the  cereals  a 
better  show.  It  is  the  wheat  section  of  the  State  and  stock 
raising  is  general,  the  finer  breeds  of  cattle  reaching  high 
perfection.  It  abounds  in  summer  resorts,  and  mineral 
springs  of  sulphur  and  iron  are  so  common  as  to  well-nigh 
destrov  their  commercial  value.  In  this  mountain  rej^ion 
are  the  deposits  of  minerals,  the  development  of  which  bears 
an  important  relation  to  the  agriculture  of  Alabama.  The 
building  of  large' manufacturing  cities  and  mining  commu- 
nities in  supplving  a  home  market  is  doing  much  to  give 
varietv  to  farm  products,  and  insures  to  the  tarmer  a  steady 
increase  in  his  facilities  and  the  value  of  his  lands. 

Above  the  mountain  region  is  the  Tennessee  Valley,  cross- 
ing the  State  at  its  northern  end,  the  river  being  now  navi- 
gable its  entire  length.  The  climate,  soil  and  products  are 
wonderfully  similar  to  those  of  Middle  Tennessee,  the  land 
of  the  race  horse  and  the  high-grade  cow,  and,  as  might  be 
expected,  this  valle}-  is  leading  Alabama  in  stock  raising  and 
cattle  breeding.  The  greatest  butter-producing  cow  in  the 
world  is  a  native  there,  and  broke  the  world's  record  before 
she  left  the  State.  Her  name  is  L.ilv  Flag,  and  she  is  now 
on  exhibition  at  the  World's  Fair  in  Chicago.  Corn  is  the 
leading  crop,  though  cotton  is  extensively  cultivated. 

In  so  varied  a  soil  and  climate  as  range  over  the  three 
hundred  miles  between  the  Gulf  and  the  Tennessee  line, 
every  product  of  the  Temperate  zone  is  native  to  the  spot, 
and  most  of  them  are  cultivated  as  profitable  crops.  The 
home-seeker,  whatever  inav  be  his  preference,  lor  hill  or 
valley,  for  plain  or  mountain,  for  lowland  or  upland,  lor 
prairie  or  rich  alluvium  or  red-clay  substratum,  will  Ihid  a 
location    to    suit    his   taste.      Everywhere  land  is  cheap,  be- 


42 


\I,.\1!.\.M,\. 


cause  vacant  and  unoccupied  land  is  plentiful.  Already 
many  home-seekers  from  the  Northern  States  and  Europe 
have  come  to  join  the  native  population. 

One  county  of  Alabama,  Cullman,  situated  in  the  North 
Alabama  mountain  region,  was  created  since  the  civil  war 
and  named  for  a  German  gentleman  who  saw  the  possibili- 
ties of  this  waste  territory  and  settled  it  with  a  colony  of  his 
countrymen.  They  are  now  among  the  most  contented  and 
thrifty  people  of  the  South,  applying  intelligence  as  well 
as  industry  to  their  farms,  var^'ing  their  products,  improving 
the  soil  and  carr^nng  the  cultivation  of  the  fruits  and  vine 
to  a  high  degree  of  perfection.  Other  German  settlements 
are  in  an  equally  flourishing  condition,  object  lessons  to  the 
home-seeker  worth  a  thousand  pamphlets. 

The  farmer  in  Alabama  has  his  ups  and  downs,  like  his 
fellows  everywhere,  but  nowhere  is  the  return  for  thrift  more 
sure,  and  in  a  few  latitudes  of  the  world  do  so  manv  things 
conspire  to  render  his  lot  peculiarl}'  fortunate.  Healthful- 
ness,  abundance  of  water  and  variet}-  of  product  give  him  as 
the  fruits  of  his  labor  and  his  own  field  the  luxuries  that  are 
borne  from  far  distances  to  more  than  two-thirds  the  popu- 
lation of  the  Union.  There  is  not  a  product  of  the  great 
West  and  Northwest  which  is  not  our  own,  while  many  of 
those  most  common  here  are  unknown  to  colder  climes. 

Of  late  much  attention  has  been  directed  to  experiments 
in  the  cultivation  of  tobacco,  and  it  is  believed  that  in, the 
wider  diversification  of  crops,  which  is  sure  to  come,  our 
farmers  in  nearly  every  section  of  the  State  will  find  profit 
in  planting  and  gathering  tobacco. 

MINERAI.S. 

The  mineral  resources  of  Alabama  are  second  in  import- 
ance to  her  agricultural.  Their  development  was  proceeding 
at  a  rapid  rate  when  suspended  bv  the  collapse  at  the  close 
of  the  war.  The  second  period  of  their  development  began 
at  so  recent  a  period  that  notwithstanding  the  great  progress 


ALABAMA.  43 

made,  it  mav  be  said  to  be  as  vet  still  in  the  preliminary 
stages.  Already  the  product  of  coal  and  raw  iron  is  worth 
per  annum  more  than  ij> 20, 000,000. 

Already  in  the  production  of  iron  ore  Alabama  ranks  second 
among  the  States  of  the  Union,  having  passed  even  Penn- 
sylvania in  the  last  census  year.  As  a  coal-producing  State 
she  ranks  fifth,  W'hile  the  commercial  value  of  her  coal  de- 
posits is  exceeded  by  those  of  onlv  Pennsylvania  and  West 
Virginia.  The  surface  of  her  mines  has  been  barely  scratched  ; 
yet  her  product  is  already  more  than  6,000,000  tons  per  an- 
num. Her  enterprising  coal  operators  are  steadil}'  extending 
their  territory,  reaching  into  all  the  Gulf  States,  Tennessee 
and  Georgia,  and  sending  in  their  own  vessels  cargoes  to 
fill  their  contracts  in  Mexico  and  the  lower  Americas.  The 
value  of  the  exports  through  Mobile  and  Pensacola  is  limited 
only  by  the  capital  available  for  wresting  the  rich  trade  from 
old  England,  while  the  building  of  the  Nicaragua  canal 
holds  out  the  sure  prospect  of  a  demand  that  will  raise  to 
great  value  the  hitherto  cheap  and  undeveloped  fields  along 
the  Coosa,  the  Cahaba  and  the  Warrior  rivers.  Already 
one  mining  company  in  Alabama  is  producing  10.000  tons 
per  day. 

x\labama  has  both  the  red  and  tiie  brown  iron  ore.  The 
latter  is  a  depcxsit  twenty  feet  thick,  lying  along  the  surface 
of  a  mountain  range  for  more  than  one  hundred  miles  and 
standing  alone  and  unapproachable  among  the  mineral  de- 
posits of  the  world. 

Limestone  is  the  commonest  among  our  products,  and 
the  production  of  lime  is  one  of  llie  great  iiuluslries  ot  the 
State. 

These  three  minerals,  iron  ore,  coal  and  limestone,  lie 
within  five  miles  of  each  other,  so  that  tlu'  raw  materials  lor 
the  production  of  pig  iron  and  steel  can  be  brought  together 
at  a  cost  below  that  of  any  locality  on  the  earth,  and  enables 
the  blast  furnaces  of  Alabama  to  turn  out  iron  at  a  cost  of  $8 


44  AI.ABAMA. 

per  ton,  including  interest  on  the  investment.  Alabama  iron 
is  sold  at  a  profit  in  the  markets  of  Ohio  and  even  Pennsyl- 
vania, and  at  a  price  belovv^  the  cost  of  production  in  those 
less  favored  sections.  Steel  is  already  past  the  stage  of 
experiment  as  a  product  of  Alabama  ores,  and  Alabama 
steel  will  soon  be  invading  the  territor}^  that  has  so  long 
been  the  centre  of  the  industry  in  this  country. 

Other  minerals  that  are  worked  commercially  are  kaolin, 
ochre,  fire-clays,  bauxite,  manganese,  tripoli,  the  building 
stones,  marble  and  gold.  The  deposits  of  each  are  of  great 
extent  and  wonderful  richness.  Gold  was  extensivel}^  mined 
before  the  war,  and  in  one  county  to-day  ten  mills  have  been 
set  to  work  within  a  3^ear. 

The  value  of  these  mineral  deposits  cannot  be  overesti- 
mated. In  the  last  ten  years  the  capitalists  of  the  East  and 
of  Europe  have  put  into  their  development  more  than  $50,- 
000,000,  and  the  period  of  the  beginning  has  not  3^et  passed. 
Many  varieties  of  minerals  exist  as  geological  specimens 
that  may  yet  turn  out  to  be  commercially  available.  There 
is  every  indication  that  oil  and  natural  gas  exist  and  the 
search  industriouslv  proceeds.  Geological  formations  augur 
well  and  experts  express  the  conviction  that  the  world  may 
be  startled  any  day  by  news  that  a  new  oil  and  gas  field  is 
pouring  its  wealth  towards  the  skies. 

LUMBER. 

The  geographical  area  of  Alabama  comprises  more  than 
32,000,000  acres.  Of  this  great  territor}'  less  than  one-third 
is  under  cultivation.  Nearly  three-fifths  is  still  covered  by 
the  native  forest  growth.  Over  15,000,000  acres  of  timbered 
lands  serve  the  double  purpose  of  preserving  the  healthful- 
ness  of  the  inhabitants  and  the  equability  of  temperature 
and  rainfall. 

These  forests  contain  large  and  valuable  supplies  of  cedar, 
oak,  cypress,  poplar,  ash,  hickory  and  gum,  all  of  which  are 


ALABAMA.  45 

being  cut  in  quantities  that  make  important  contributions  to 
commerce  and  the  wealth  of  the  State.  But  by  far  the  most 
important  and  extensive  growth  for  supplying  the  present 
demand  is  the  long-leaf  yellow  pine.  The  supply  now  stand- 
ing is  computed  with  care  and  trustworthiness  at  more  than 
13,000,000,000  feet,  board  measure,  which  at  the  present 
enormous  annual  cut  will  last  beyond  the  lifetime  of  most 
men  now  living,  even  were  there  no  renewal  upon  the  de- 
nuded land. 

Alabama  pine  is  a  staple  material  in  nearly  every  market 
for  building  material  east  of  the  Rocky  mountains,  while  its 
export  forms  the  most  lucrative  and  extensive  business  of 
the  seaports  at  Pensacola  and  Mobile.  England  and  the 
continent  of  Europe  are  our  customers. 

The  yellow  pine  tor  building  material  and  the  hard  woods 
mentioned  above  are  a  storehouse  of  well-nigh  inexhaustible 
supply  for  the  arts  of  manufacture  as  they  develop.  Already 
the  hard  woods  are  being  extensively  utilized  in  manufactures 
of  various  kinds,  from  axe-helves  up  to  carriages,  while  the 
cypress  of  the  lower  end  of  the  State  is  the  basis  of  a  shingle 
trade  of  very  large  proportions.  These  woods  grow  in  luxu- 
riance along  the  streams,  down  which  they  are  floated  to 
market  or  the  mills.  The  growths  of  the  highlands,  while 
less  valuable  as  to  quality,  are  equal  in  quantity  and  are 
accessible  by  rail.  As  the  timber  of  the  more  thickly-settled 
portions  of  the  country  is  consumed,  that  of  Alabama  grows 
more  valuable.  The  time  cannot  be  far  away  when  the 
forests  of  the  Gulf  States  will  be  a  mine  of  wealth,  almost 
the  sole  dependence  of  the  States  east  of  the  Mississippi 
river. 

M  A  N  U  F  A  C  T  U  RES. 

The  progress  of  Alabama  in  manufactures  is  its  own  best 
testimony  to  the  facilities  and  advantages  of  the  State  in  that 
record.  The  cheapness  of  raw  material  that  enters  into  most 
of  the  articles  of  comfort   and   ust'   among  mankiiul  is  sujt- 


46  ALABAMA. 

plemented  by  a  climate  equable  and  mild  ;  b}^  the  speediest 
communication  known  to  modern  railway  management  with 
the  markets  of  the  country  ;  by  a  friendly  spirit  of  encour- 
agement on  the  part  of  the  railroads  ;  by  a  water  transporta- 
tion or  river  system  that  penetrates  from  the  seaboard  to  the 
interior  in  four  navigable  lines  and  across  the  northern  end 
from  east  to  west ;  by  low  taxation  and  an  abundance  of 
unskilled  labor  that  is  at  once  intelligent  and  eager  to  learn 
and  willing  to  give  a  day's  full  work  for  a  day's  pay. 

That  Alabama,  in  common  with  the  great  cotton-producing 
States,  is  destined  to  become  the  seat  of  a  vast  cotton  manu- 
facture is  conceded  by  all  observers  of  the  drift  of  events  and 
proven  by  the  actual  process  of  manufacture  now  going  on. 
Twentv  cotton  mills  are  now  in  successful  operation,  some 
of  them  earning  dividends  of  over  thirty  per  cent,  per  an- 
num. In  the  midst  of  the  financial  crisis  but  now  or  so 
recently  sweeping  over  the  country,  four  new  ones  are  being 
built.  The  advantage  of  the  mill  at  the  field  is  $5  per  bale 
in  the  case  of  cotton  as  compared  with  the  East,  and  more 
than  that  as  compared  with  Europe,  a  difference  in  itself 
equivalent  to  a  large  profit  on  such  investments.  The  last 
Legislature,  recognizing  the  advantages  which  Alabama  pre- 
sents for  the  manufacture  of  cotton  and  woollen  goods,  and 
desirous  to  encourage  the  investment  of  capital  in  those  in- 
dustries, passed  a  statute  authorizing  cities,  counties  and 
towns  to  exempt  from  taxation  for  five  years  all  capital  in- 
vested in  buildings,  machinerv,  etc. 

For  all  articles  made  from  iron  and  steel,  Alabama  affords 
the  advantage  of  iron  at  $8  to  $10  compared  with  $12  and 
$13  in  all  territory  along  the  Ohio  and  Potomac  rivers  and 
beyond.  Steel  is  produced  at  a  cost  relatively  as  low.  The 
iron-working  establishments  of  the  State  are  busy  and  pros- 
perous, filling  contracts  for  the  Gulf  States  and  the  islands 
of  the  Gulf.  The  capital  invested  in  rolling  mills  alone  in- 
creased in  the  ten  vears  from  1880  to  1890  from  :|?203,ooo  to 


ALABAMA. 


47 


i^2, 723,990.  In  wood-working  establishments  and  miscella- 
neous factories  the  progress  has  been  equally  as  marked  ; 
furniture  factories,  basket  factories,  tannin  extract  works, 
planing  mills,  canning  factories,  etc.,  having  multiplied  with 
great  rapidity.  Of  the  cotton-seed  mills  there  are  nine  in 
operation  and  one  is  building. 

The  staple  articles  that  are  used  in  proritable  manufacture 
in  Alabama  are  cotton,  iron,  limestone,  the  various  woods, 
with  coal  as  the  universal  fuel.  The  prices  of  these  at  the 
points  of  cheapest  cost  and  highest  cost  are  given,  and  the 
careful  investor  can  make  his  own  comparisons  : 

Minerals— Coal,        .         .         .         .  |     .85  to  |  2.00  per  ton. 

Iron,  pig,         .         .         .  8.00  to    10.00  per  ton. 

Coke,       .         .         .         .  2.25  to      3.25  per  ton. 

Lumber — Hickory,          .         .         .  15.00  per  .M.  feet. 

Ash,         ....  15.00        "         " 

Poplar,    ....  15.00        "         " 

Oak,        ....  13.00        "         " 

Pine,        ....  S.oo 

These  are  prices  of  staple  varieties  of  lumber  at  the  lead- 
ing cities  of  North  Alabama.  At  points  nearer  the  forests 
the  cost  is  less. 

The  price  of  cotton  varies  with  the  market  daily,  but  it  is 
one  cent  per  pound  less  than  iti  New  York  and  contiguous 
centres.  The  price  of  fuel,  eighty-five  cents  per  ton.  is  least 
at  Birmingham,  varying  with  the  distance  from  the  mines. 
It  is  less  than  in  any  State  of  the  South. 

No  State  is  more  richly  blessed  with  water-power  than 
Alabama,  whether  in  quantity  or  locations,  though  the  won- 
derful cheapness  of  fuel  has  so  far  discouraged  its  utilization. 

The  invitation  of  these  figin-es  is  self-evident.  Some  ma- 
terial is  cheaper  at  one  point  in  the  State,  some  at  another, 
the  manul'acturer  making  choice  according  to  his  neinls. 

SCHOOLS. 

The  first  question  the  honie-st'eker.  if  not  an  inx'eslor.  asks 
is  concernini>'  the  scliools.      Alabama   has  a  free-school  s\s- 


48  ALABAMA. 

tern  on  which  is  expended  a  sum  equal  to  more  than  half  the 
revenues  of  the  State,  and  which  is  being  augmented  year 
by  year.  In  all  the  cities  and  towns  the  State  appropriation 
is  supplemented  by  the  local  authorities,  and  the  city  systems 
are  equal  to  those  of  the  oldest  and  wealthiest  States  of  the 
Union.  The  friends  of  public  education  number  all  the 
people,  and  the  public-school  fund  is  the  dearest  care  of 
every  legislator.  The  appropriations  keep  the  schools  of 
the  country  open  for  four  months,  and  a  small  private  sup- 
plement is  a  common  practice.  The  free  city  schools  are 
open  for  nine  months  of  every  year. 

THE   NEGRO. 

The  so-called  negro  problem  is  a  difficulty  that  lies  in  the 
path  of  no  investor.  It  is  only  the  home-seeker,  and  espe- 
ciall}'^  the  farm-seeker,  who  halts  and  stumbles  at  its  imagi- 
nary menace.  If  he  chooses  he  can  find  a  home  in  the 
mountain  region  or  the  Pine  belt,  where  the  negro  is  a  mere 
fraction  of  the  population,  and  where  many  great  counties 
have  practically  no  negroes  at  all.  Even  in  the  Black  belt, 
where  the  negro  is  most  numerous,  this  vast  bod}'  of  unskilled 
and  tractable  labor  has  its  own  advantages  and  offers  to  the 
land-owners  a  source  of  profitable  agriculture  without  a  par- 
allel outside  of  the  Southern  States  of  the  Union.  Politi- 
cally, the  negro  has  begun  to  divide  ;  has  turned  his  atten- 
tion to  the  grave  problems  of  bread  and  meat  and  education  ; 
is  doing  well  and  is  improving,  all  things  considered. 

HEALTH. 

It  is  a  common  and  generous  weakness  of  mankind  to 
claim,  each  for  his  home,  the  blessing  of  healthfulness.  It 
is  an  equally  common  weakness  to  exaggerate  the  dangers 
to  life  in  localities  far  removed.  While  here  in  Alabama  we 
believe  that  we  have  as  healthful  a  country  as  exists  on  the 
globe,  we  are  aware  that  the  inhabitants  of  Northern  Europe 


ALABAMA. 


49 


and  of  the  Northern  States  of  America  possess  exaggerated 
ideas  of  the  fever  dangers  of  the  Gulf  coast.  As  a  matter 
of  fact,  the  death  rate  of  our  cities,  where  the  statistics  are 
accurately  preserved,  show  a  general  rate  of  mortality  rather 
under  than  over  the  average  of  the  country  at  large,  and  for 
whites  alone  ver}'  much  under  the  average,  ranging  from 
eight  to  twenty  per  thousand.  Epidemics  rarely  intrude 
upon  us,  and  when  they  do  their  ravages  are  confined  hy  a 
thoroughlv-organized  State  Board  of  Health  and  quarantine 
system.  Indeed,  the  single  disease  of  consumption  in  colder 
climates  is  more  fatal  in  its  ravages  than  all  the  fevers  and 
epidemics  from  which  Alabama  has  ever  suffered.  An  in- 
creasing number  of  strangers  are  coming  each  year  to  Ala- 
bama in  search  of  health  among  her  mountains  in  summer 
and  on  her  Gulf  coast  in  winter. 

ALABAMA  CITIES. 

The  progress  and  prosperitv  of  a  State  in  this  day  and 
time  are  oftenest  measured  by  the  growth  and  equipment  of 
its  cities.  I  do  not  agree  with  this  standard,  for  a  people 
may  be  wonderfully  strong  and  prosperous  when  measured 
bv  the  industrv  and  thrift  of  the  farm.  If  cities  grow  merely 
because  the  inhabitants  of  the  farm  are  deserting  unpleasant 
surroundings,  urban  growth  is  a  sign  of  decay. 

In  Alabama,  the  growth  and  improvement  of  cities  is  jilu-- 
nomenal,  but  not  at  the  expense  of  the  country.  Manufac- 
turing development  is  giving  employment  to  more  and  more 
hundreds  and  thousands  each  year,  drawing  some  surplus 
population  from  the  countr\-  and  much  skilled  labor  trom 
Europe  and  the  East,  adding  to  the  value  of  farms  and  the 
strenijth  of  the  Commonwealth.  Urban  growth  in  Alabama 
is  based  on  multiplying  smoke-stacks  and  electric-motors 
and  water-wheels.  It  is  the  result  of  var3'ing  the  products 
of  industrv,  the  development  of  new  sources  of  wealth.     This 


50  ALABAMA. 

growth  is  shown  by  the  followini^  table  of  population  in  three 

of  the  leading  cities  : 

1880.  1890. 

Montgomery, 16,713  21,798 

Birmingham 2,086  26,178 

Anniston, 942  9,998 

The  growth  in  many  of  the  smaller  towns  has  been  equally 
as  gratifjang,  while  the  addition  of  the  modern  city  improve- 
ments, such  as  electric  lights,  electric  railroads,  water-works, 
stone  pavements  and  sanitary  sewers,  has  kept  pace  with  the 
growth  of  population.  A  goodly  percentage  of  the  live  and 
progressive  citizens  of  our  municipalities  came  from  the 
Eastern  and  Western  States  and  from  Europe,  and  few  can 
be  found  among  all  the  thousands  who  is  not  pleased  with 
the  cordiality  of  his  welcome  and  satisfied  with  his  equal 
showing  in  the  race  of  life. 

STEEL  AND  ALUMINUM. 

This  is  the  age  of  steel.  For  some  time  the  completeness 
and  symmetry  of  the  manufacturing  development  of  Alabama 
has  halted  over  what  was  familiarly  called  the  problem  of 
steel-making  from  our  native  ores.  The  problem  consisted 
purely  in  the  making  of  such  experiments  as  were  necessary 
to  determine  the  exact  process  to  be  employed  and  the  proper 
proportion  of  the  various  elements  of  pig-iron  conversion. 
These  experiments  have  proceeded  through  six  years,  and 
every  test  known  to  the  ingenuity  of  experts  has  been  ap- 
plied. Capital  is  ever  slow  to  engage  in  experimentation 
and  many  difficulties  have  been  encountered.  But  the  ex- 
periment stage  has  at  last  been  successfully  passed  and  Ala- 
bama is  at  last  prepared  to  announce  as  a  fact  the  successful 
production  of  commercial  steel  at  a  price  as  much  below  that 
in  Pennsylvania  as  the  relative  price  of  her  iron.  The  pro- 
duction of  steel  in  quantities  equal  to  the  demand  of  the 
whole  country  and  at  a  cost  that  deties  competition  on  this 
continent,   or   any   other,   is  now  a  mere  matter  of  capital. 


ALA15AMA.  :^  I 

The  same  wonderful  development  that  followed  tlie  success- 
ful making  of  blast-furnace  coke  iron  will  follow  this  suc- 
cessful manufacture  of  commercial  steel.  Alabama,  during 
the  current  year,  has  entered  her  steel  era  and  alreadx  jilans 
are  laid  and  companies  forming  to  reap  the  profits  that  so 
certainly  awaits  the  in\-estment. 

If  the  popular  and  scientific  opinion  is  correct  that  the 
world  is  about  to  enter  an  age  of  another  and  better  metal, 
aluminum,  Alabama  will  not  follow  in  that.  She  will  take 
the  lead.  Her  deposits  of  bauxite,  the  mineral  from  which 
the  pure  metal  is  refined,  are  not  surpassed  in  the  world, 
and  are  already  being  developed.  Whatever  the  future  of 
aluminum  mav  be,  Alabama  will  be  the  State  of  its  chief 
production. 

CONCLUSION. 

The  above  has  been  written  with  a  view  of  in\iting  the 
more  careful  inquir\-  of  the  reader.  Wearisome  statistics 
and  tables  and  tests  have  been  a\'oided,  with  the  hope  that 
this  outline  of  the  general  conditions  of  life  and  business 
and  natural  endowments  will  solicit  a  visit  of  investigation 
or  a  request  for  "more,"  which  will  be  promptly  honored  if 
addressed  to  an\-  of  our  I3oards  of  Trade  in  the  cities  of  the 
State,  or  to  the  Department  of  Agriculture  at  the  State 
Capitol  at  Montgomery. 

Tn  conclusion,  I  speak  for  all  the  people  in  the  vSiale.  a 
people  world-famous  for  their  oj-)en-hearted  generosity,  hos- 
pitality and  candor,  and  a  j")eople  eager  for  assistance  in  the 
development  of  their  resources,  when  I  say  to  e\ery  good 
man  of  every  clime  tiiat  he  will  be  welcomed  as  one  of  us 
and  given  an  equal  sliari>  with  e\ery  otluT  man  in  ihc  strug- 
gle of  life.  We  believe  in  Alabama  that  we  ha\  e  but  v-iitrrcd 
on  a  career  of  development  that  assures  munificent  returns. 
We  have  done  with  rebuilding  the  shattered  fortunes  and 
structures  of  war.      We  are  not  lioarders  ol    mone\  .  but  aw 


52  ALAIJAIMA. 

investing  our  all  and  bending  our  every  energy  to  greet  the 
first  da}^  of  the  twentieth  century  as  a  Commonwealth  pros- 
perous in  every  department  of  human  endeavor  and  abreast 
with  every  improvement  and  condition  of  twentieth-century 
civilization.      Come  and   join  us. 

Thomas  G.  Jones, 
Governor  of  A  lahaiua . 


PAPER  PREPARED  BY 


BE)NJ,   F^.  TlLyl^MAN 


G^vefi^(^r  (i)f  Statin  Gar(i)Ii^a. 


SOUTH  CAROLINA, 

ITS  LOCATION,  RESOURCES,  ADVANTAGES.   NEEDS  AND 

DESCRIPTION. 


The  State  of  South  Carolina  lies  between  north  latitude 
32°  4'  30"  and  35°  12',  and  west  longitude  Irom  Washington 
1°  30'  and  6°  54'.  Estimated  area,  50,000  square  miles.  It 
is  in  the  shape  of  a  triangle  almost  isosceles,  and  its  surface 
slopes  graduall}^  from  the  Blue  Ridge  mountains,  where  the 
highest  point  in  the  State,  Mount  Pinnacle,  reaches  the  ele- 
vation of  3,450  feet.  The  general  elevation  is  500  to  i  ,000 
feet,  sloping  down  in  a  southeasterh'  direction  to  the  swamps 
and  sand-bars  of  the  coast.  The  geological  break  along  the 
Atlantic  slope,  passing  from  Richmond,  Va.,  through  Colum- 
bia, Augusta,  Ga.,  and  Millidgeville,  Ga.,  indicating  Hrst  fall 
in  the  rivers,  divides  South  Carolina  into  the  "Up-country  " 
and  the  "  Low-countrv  " — the  tormer  of  granite  formations, 
with  its  clays  :  the  latter  an  alhnial,  tertiary  soil,  with  its 
sandy  loams.  Geologically  speaking,  there  is  no  shading  of 
the  periods,  the  alluvial  strata  resting  directly  on  archa'n 
granite.  The  old  sea  beach  was  along  this  break  and  passed 
through  Columbia. 

While  there  are  only  a  few  peaks  that  can  be  called  moun- 
tains, the  Up  countrv  is  rolling,  with  rapid  water-courses,  and 
the  Low  countrj^  is  ciuilr  K-xi'I.  with  torluous  and  sluggish 
streams. 


56  SOUTH    CAROLINA. 

Through  the  State  roll  four  large  rivers  with  their  tributa- 
ries, and  navigation  for  boats  of  at  least  two  hundred  tons  is 
practicable  for  more  than  a  hundred  miles  inland.  The 
Federal  Government  is  now^  clearing  out  snags  from  the 
rivers,  opening  up  increasing  areas  to  water  navigation  and 
to  competing  freight  lines. 

Maj.  Harry  Hammond,  in  his  Hand-Book  of  South  Caro- 
lina, divides  the  State  into  seven  regions,  with  the  limits 
running  somewhat  in  a  parallel  direction  to  the  coast,  as  fol- 
lows : 

I.  The  Coast  region  (1,000  square  miles)  extends  for  ten 
miles  inland  from  the  sea.  It  is  comprised  of  sea  islands 
and  low,  marshy  mainland.  These  sea  islands  have  long 
been  famed  for  their  long  staple  cotton,  the  finest  in  the 
world,  and  now  coming  into  great  prominence  as  truck  farms. 
Here  the  mildness  of  the  climate  and  the  fertility  of  the  soil 
enable  farmers  to  push  their  vegetables  among  the  first  into 
the  great  markets.  Much  money  can  be  and  has  been  made 
in  this  industr3\ 

n.  The  Lower  Pine  belt  (10,000  square  miles,  of  which 
4,500  are  subject  to  overflow,)  lies  back  of  the  sea  islands, 
and  is  about  fifty  miles  wide,  with  a  maximum  elevation  of 
150  feet.  Here  are  found  the  great  rice  fields  and  the  tur- 
pentine farms  and  cattle  ranges. 

HI.  The  Upper  Pine  belt  or  Upper  Central  belt  has  a  soil  of 
a  light,  sand}'  loam,  underlaid  by  red  and  3'ellow  clay.  It 
rises  from  130  to  250  feet,  and  embraces  5,500  square  miles, 
including  inland  swamps,  bays  and  river  bottoms  of  unsur- 
passed fertilit}'. 

IV.  The  Red  hills  (1,600  square  miles)  are  north  of  this 
region,  rising  in  places  to  an  elevation  of  600  feet.  This 
section  is  composed  of  red  clay  and  sandy  lands,  and  has  a 
growth  of  pine,  oak,  and  also  hickory  and  other  hard  woods. 
In  this  region  are  situated  the  health  resort  of  Aiken  and  the 
historic  high  hills  of  the  Santee,  and  the  fertile  ridge  lands 
of  Edgefield,  noted  for  fruit  as  well  as  staple  crops. 


SOUTH    CAROLINA.  t^7 

V.  The  Sand-hill  region  (2,400  square  miles)  is  of  less 
fertilit}^  than  other  portions,  but  its  soil  can  be  brouglit  to  a 
high  degree  of  richness  by  fertilization,  while  it  is  the  most 
healthy  region  of  the  world,  free  from  all  malaria,  and  it 
abounds  in  vast  stretches  of  pine  timber.  Grapes  succeed 
splendidly  in  this  belt  and  also  peaches. 

VI.  The  Piedmont  region  or  Up-country  ( 100,000  square 
miles)  rises  to  an  elevation  of  800  feet  in  places,  being  of  a 
rolling  formation.  It  contains  cold  gray  lands  overlying 
clay  slates,  gray  sandy  soils  from  granite  gneiss,  hornblende 
lands,  and  trappean  soil. 

In  former  days  this  portion  of  the  State  produced  chiefly 
cereals,  but  the  application  of  commercial  fertilizers  so  has- 
tened the  maturity  of  cotton  that  this  crop  is  now  planted  in 
the  very  foot-hills  of  the  Blue  Ridge,  and  on  the  top  of  some 
of  the  mountains. 

VII.  The  Alpine  region  (100  square  miles)  stops  just  short 
of  the  main  mountain  ridge.  It  highest  peaks  are  Mount 
Pinnacle,  in  Pickens  county,  3,450  feet ;  Csesar's  Head,  a 
very  popular  summer  resort,  3,113  feet  high,  and  King's 
mountain,  about  2,000  feet.  The  valleys  in  the  foot-hills  are 
fertile,  and  the  hill  sides  are  covered  with  a  dense  growth  of 
oak,  poplar  and  other  woods.  Very  tine  apples  grow  here, 
and  succeed  tolerably  well  as  far  south  as  Columbia. 

WATER-POWER. 

The  physical  features  of  the  State  are  such  llial  ihr  most 
abundant  water-power  exists.  The  Columbia  canal,  whicli 
has  been  recendy  finished,  aflbrds  10,000  horse-power,  and 
the  power  could  be  doubled  by  extending  the  canal  two 
miles.  The  Great  falls  of  the  Catawba,  with  tlu'  mnains  of 
the  canal,  are  destined  in  the  future  to  jilay  a  gn-at  part  in 
the  wealth  of  the  State.  Here  the  river  falls  about  125  feel 
in  three  miles.  Horse  creek,  in  Aiken  county,  already  rnns 
the  Graniteville  cotton  mills  and  others,  and  in  Sjiartanburg 


58  SOUTH    CAROLINA. 

and  other  counties  several   magnificent  powers   have  been 

utilized. 
^  .  .  - 

Mr.  Swaim,  the  special  agent  of  the  census  of  1880,  made 

a   careful   estimate  of  the   water-power  of  our  streams   as 

reaching  a  million  horse-power,  ranging  from  30  to  3,000 

power  in  individual  cases.     If  developed  these  would  give 

employment  to  6,000,000  operatives  in  cotton  mills  and  allow' 

for  an  increase  of  3,000.000  in  our  population. 

Owing  to  want  of  capital  in  the  State,  these  powers  can  be 
bought  cheaplv  now,  and  the}'^  would  prove  capital  invest- 
ments. The  winters  are  so  mild  that  there  is  comparative!}' 
no  trouble  from  freezing. 

The  benignity  of  the  climate  also  makes  living  cheaper, 
and  this  adds  to  the  advantages  offered  manufacturers  bv  our 
water-powers. 

CLIMATE. 

A  series  of  observations,  carried  on  at  intervals  for  about 
one  hundred  vears  by  observers  in  Charleston,  and  by  the 
signal  service  of  the  United  States,  would  indicate  an  ave- 
rage annual  mean  temperature  of  about  65  degrees.  The 
highest  recorded  teinperature  at  long  intervals  has  been  104 
degrees,  though  the  mercury  seldom  reaches  100.  The 
lowest  record  w^as  2  degrees,  though  in  twenty-four  years  of 
record  only  twice  was  a  lower  temperature  than  17  found. 
The  mean  for  winter  is  about  54,  and  for  summer  about  76. 

It  mav  be  said  of  South  Carolina,  as  was  remarked  of 
England  bv  Charles  II.,  that  there  is  no  part  of  the  world 
in  which  the  people  can  spend  more  time  comfortably  out  of 
doors.  Sleighing  and  skating  are  practically  unknown,  and 
the  heat  is  intense  for  only  a  short  time  in  the  summer,  and 
the  thermometer  ranges  lower  than  in  the  North  during  Jul}'^ 
and  August.  The  average  annual  rainfall  is  about  60  inches 
for  the  mountain  ranges  and  about  52  for  the  State.  The 
gentle  declivitv  of  the  State  from  the  mountains  to  the  sea- 
board, and  the  general  prevalence  of  the  southwest  winds, 


-■,  ;^>.' 


SOUTH    CAROLINA. 


59 


remove  the  climate  from  the  extremes  of  floods  and  drafts 
and  give  little  cause  for  fogs.  This  combination  makes  the 
State  peculiarly  salubrious  for  persons  affected  with  pulmo- 
nary diseases,  and  for  those  who  wish  to  shun  the  rigor  of 
the  Northern  winters  without  experiencing  the  enervating 
effects  of  semi-tropical  humid  atmosphere.  i\.iken  and  Sum- 
merville  are  specially  famed  as  sanitariums,  and  the  great 
pine  regions  are  free  from  malaria,  while  the  inhabitants  of 
the  mountains,  too.  are  noted  for  their  longevitv. 

AGRICULTURAL    INDUSTRIES. 

The  area  of  land  under  cultivation  in  this  State  in  1880 
w^as  3,974,000  acres,  w^hile  in  1890  it  w'as  estimated  at  5,000,- 
000  ;  the  remainder,  about  12,000,000,  exclusive  of  water  sur- 
face, is  divided  into  pasture  and  w^oodland.  Cane  swamps 
afford  perennial  pasturage  for  cattle  and  other  live  stock,  and 
the  best  permanent  pasturage  for  summer  is  affbrded  by  Ber- 
muda and  other  grasses. 

It  is  estimated  that  there  are  between  four  and  Hve  million 
acres  of  finest  pine  and  cypress  land  for  future  lumbering, 
besides  other  woodland  and  hard  woods  in  other  portions  of 
the  State. 

No  State  presents  a  greater  diversity  of  crops.  Clovt.'r. 
lucern  or  alfalfa  and  millet  and  the  native  crab  and  Bermuda 
and  Means  grasses,  together  with  cow^-peas,  are  capable  of 
making  all  the  long  forage  needed  for  stock.  All  the  small 
grains  grow  luxurianth\  River  bottoms  here  yield  to  no 
other  lands  in  the  amount  of  corn.  Potatoes,  sweet  and 
Irish,  yield  several  hundred  bushels  to  the  acre  under  good 
cultivation  anvwhere  in  the  State.  In  the  past  few  years 
tobacco  has  been  cultivated,  and  the  culture  is  speeding 
rapidly  ;  the  quality  is  unsurpassed.  The  truck  farms  of  the 
coast  are  a  new^  mine  of  wealth,  and  their  products  are  early 
enough  to  command  best  prices  in  the  Xorlhern  markets. 
Somewhat  later  the   ridjfe  hinds  in  the  niiddh-  ot    the  State 


6o  SOUTH    CAROLINA. 

ship  abundance  of  peaches,  and  the  Piedmont  region  sends 
grapes  of  finest  quality  and  appearance.  As  for  water- 
melons, the  problem  is  how  to  dispose  of  all  that  can  be 
made. 

The  staple  crop  is  still  cotton,  and  in  this  State  it  is  well 
up  in  average  yield.  The  want  of  sufficient  capital  has 
seduced  farmers  to  devote  their  attention  too  fully  as  a 
money  crop.  It  always  commands  a  sale,  even  at  reduced 
rates,  while  other  crops  may  be  a  drug  on  the  market. 
Where  cotton  can  be  produced  as  a  surplus  crop  it  pays, 
and  this  is  practicable  in  any  part  of  the  State,  as  shown  by 
numerous  examples  ;  but  under  a  credit  system,  when  food 
supplies  are  brought  from  abroad,  the  raising  of  cotton  has 
been  full  of  discouragement.  The  profits  of  cotton  raising 
have  been  largely  increased  of  late  years  by  the  fertilization 
of  the  soil.  It  has  always  been  known  that  cotton  seed  was 
a  fine  lertilizer,  but  its  use,  except  as  cow-food,  has  been  re- 
stricted. 

The  establishment  of  cotton-oil  mills  opens  an  entirely 
new  industry,  yielding  large  profits. 

THE  PRODUCTS  OF  COTTON. 

Fifteen  hundred  pounds  of  seed  cotton  will  yield  on  an 
average  500  pounds  of  lint  and  1,000  pounds  of  seed;  this 
seed,  when  sent  to  the  oil  mill,  will  yield,  of  short  lint  or 
"linters,"  12  pounds;  of  hulls,  488  pounds;  of  meal,  350 
pounds  ;  of  oil,  20  gallons,  or  150  pounds. 

During  last  season  the  linters  sold  for  5  cents  per  pound  ; 
the  meal  for  $24  per  ton  ;  the  hulls  at  $2  to  $3,  and  the  oil 
from  35  to  40  cents  per  gallon.  These  are  figures  supplied 
from  one  of  the  interior  mills  and  ma}'  exceed  the  average  ; 
but  it  shows  that  the  "  products "  of  cotton  yield  about 
$20  for  every  bale  of  lint.  Estimate  the  cotton  selling  at  8 
cents  per  pound,  and  the  total  value  is  $60  per  bale. 

It  is  true  that  the  ph^enomenalh'  high  price  of  bacon  and 


5.  > 

■<      T 

p-  5 


SOUTH    CAROLINA.  6 1 

lard  led  to  the  verv  great  advance  in  the  price  of  oil,  as  it  is 
used  to  adulterate  or  compound  the  latter ;  but  this  is  proof 
that  the  time  is  coming,  or  is  already  here,  when  cotton  seed 
will  enter  largely  into  the  food  of  the  people.  The  possi- 
bilities of  chemistry  are  such  that  we  may  predict  that  at  no 
distant  day  this  oil  will  receive  that  degree  of  rehnement 
which  will  remove  any  defect  that  now  prevents  its  absolute 
popularity  in  the  market  in  a  pure  state.  Already  the  oil  is 
used  as  a  substitute  for  olive  oil.  Cotton-seed  meal  now 
stands  unrivalled  as  a  fertilizer.  It  yields  on  analysis  8% 
ammonia.  2  '/(  phosphoric  acid,  and  i  %  potash.  The  488 
pounds  of  hulls,  when  calcined  in  the  mill  as  fuel,  yield  16 
pounds  of  ash,  containing  25^  of  potash  and  10^  phos- 
phoric acid  :  but  the  hulls  are  too  valuable  to  be  burned. 

It  has  been  discovered  that  the  hulls  make  a  most  excel- 
lent substitute  for  hay.  When  mixed  with  one-fourth  their 
weight  in  cotton-seed  meal  they  supply  splendid  ration  to 
cattle.  Twenty  pounds  of  the  mixture  will,  in  100  days, 
fatten  the  poorest  steer  and  bring  him  to  market  in  prime 
condition.  These  hulls,  at  from  ten  to  fifteen  cents  a  hundred, 
take  the  place  of  hay  and  greatly  reduce  the  cost  of  keep- 
ing stock.  The  hulls  can  be  baled,  and  they  can  be  conve- 
niently fed,  without  the  loss  accompanying  the  feeding  of 
unchopped  hay.  These  advantages  indicate  the  rise  of  dairy 
farming  as  an  important  industry  in  the  future.  Experienced 
dairymen  would  doubtless  grow  rich  if  they  \vould  establish 
themselves  in  this  State.  A  great  deal  of  mone}-  now  goes 
off  for  butter  and  beef.  At  present  there  are  a  few  herds  of 
cattle  in  this  State  and  some  good  creameries,  but  there  is 
ample  room  for  development.  Good  butter  sells  always  at 
from  twenty-five  to  forty  cents  per  pound. 

Sheep  raising  has  been  one  of  the  industries  of  the  State 
in  the  past,  but  has  declined,  owing  to  the  cotton  mania  and 
danger  from  dogs :  but  the  climate  of  the  State  is  well 
adapted  to  this  industry.      It  ma}-  be  added  that,  while  it  is 


62  SOUTH    CAROLINA. 

said  to  cost  a  dollar  a  month  per  head  in  the  North  to  bring 
sheep  through  the  winter,  this  can  be  done  here  with  the  use 
of  cotton-seed  hulls  and  meal  for  25  cents  a  month.  Pasture 
lands  cost  about  one-fifth  here  that  they  cost  in  the  North, 
and  this  gives  a  large  margin  of  profit.  If  the  industry  were 
established,  the  dog  nuisance  would  be  abated. 

The  cotton  crop  of  the  State  varies  from  500,000  to  750,- 
000  bales.  With  factories  to  put  this  into  cloth,  and  with  a 
utilization  of  the  good  properties  of  the  seed,  a  mine  of 
wealth  would  be  opened,  and  it  would  do  much  to  revive 
agriculture. 

The  manufacture  of  the  different  products  of  cotton  would 
diversify  our  industries  and  open  the  way  for  still  greater 
prosperity. 

Along  with  cotton  culture  could  and  should  go  oil  mills 
and  factories,  fertilizer  mills,  dairy  farms,  sheep  raising,  etc. 

PHOSPHATES. 

Not  less  blessed  in  her  agricultural  advantages  is  South 
Carolina  in  the  apparently  inexhaustible  stores  of  phosphate 
deposits,  the  basis  of  good  commercial  fertilizers  at  a  low 
price.  This  is  one  of  the  most  remarkable  natural  boons 
vouchsafed  to  man.  The  land  deposits  belong  to  private 
owners  ;  the  river  beds  are  the  property  of  the  State  and 
are  leased  by  persons  and  companies  paying  a  royalt}^  of  one 
dollar  per  ton  to  the  State. 

STATEMENT  OP"  SHIPMENT  OF  PHOSPHATES    I  89 1 -92. 


Foreign  shipments,  tons, 
Coastwise      "  " 

Interior  "  " 

Consumed, 

Total,      . 


rharlestoii. 

Beaufort. 

4.396 

120,058 

145.627 

30, 602 

58.715 

10,000 

165,000 

16,000 

571,736  176,660 


Grand  total,  548,396,  of  which  356,396  was  land  rock  and 
192,000  river  rock. 


M'R 


SOUTH    CAROLINA. 


63 


AGRICULTURAL   STATISTICS. 


750,000  estimated. 
22,000,000  " 

93,000  barrels. 
1,500,000  estimated. 
3,500,000  " 


1870.  1880. 

Cotton,   bales,          .         .  224,500  552,348 

Corn,  bushels,         .         .  7,614,207  11,767,099 

Rice,  pounds,          .         .  32,000,000  52,000,000 

Wheat,  bushels,       .         .  783,000  962,000 

Oats,  bushels,          .         .  613,000  2,715,000 

Farms, 51,889  93,864 

Average  acre  per  farm,  .  233  143 

There  is  no  way  of  getting  at  the  precise  figures  of  the 
crops  of  corn  and  small  grain  and  minor  crops  ;  but  the  corn 
crop  last  year  was  the  largest  ever  made  in  the  State,  and 
will  do  much  to  compensate  for  the  low  profits  from  the 
cotton  crop. 

MANUFACTURES. 

In  the  census  of  1880  South  Carolina  was  represented  in 
fifty-three  out  of  fifty-seven  manufacturing  occupations  men- 
tioned in  the  compendium,  a  proof  of  the  diversit}'  of  her 
resources.  Formerly  the  production  of  staple  crops  for  ex- 
port and  extractive  industries  were  more  suited  to  our  soil 
and  our  system  of  labor,  and  other  sections  were  allowed  to 
outstrip  us  in  the  other  lines  of  production.  The  competi- 
tion of  the  great  prairies  and  bottoms  of  the  West  admon- 
ishes us  of  the  necessity  of  calling  on  our  great  reserve 
power  and  entering  boldly  into  the  new  field  of  industry. 
The  highest  civilized  nation  and  the  highest  prosperity  can 
be  reached  only  by  a  proper  combination  of  urban  and  rural 
industries,  so  that  this  tendency  to  diversification  was  very 
gratifying. 

South  Carolina  has  no  coal  in  her  borders,  and  this  is  a 
disadvantage  ;  but  the  pushing  of  railway  lines  to  the  great 
coal-fields  of  Tennessee  and  Alabama  is  doing  much  to  over- 
come this  disadvantage.  The  finest  magnetic  iron  ore  of  the 
world  is  found  in  the  upper  part  of  the  State  ;  but  the  supply 
of  wood  became  exhausted  years  ago  and  the  furnace  closed. 
Later,  at  Blacksburg,  iron  furnaces  have  been  establislied  and 


64  SOUTH    CAROLINA. 

promise  great  results.  The  ores  taken  from  this  part  of  the 
country  are  needed  to  mix  in  the  ores  of  other  beds.  There 
are  factories  of  different  kinds  in  different  parts  of  the  State. 
Good  wagons  and  buggies  are  made  in  more  than  one  localit}' 
at  prices  comparing  favorably  with  those  obtaining  elsewhere. 
But  the  chief  industry  is  that  of  cotton  spinning,  and  in  this 
the  increase  has  been  most  remarkable.  Years  ago  there 
were  factories  here,  but  the}^  gave  way  in  importance  to  agri- 
culture. At  the  beginning  of  the  war  only  a  few  were  of 
importance.  In  the  past  decade  this  State  has  been  pushing 
forward  rapidh^  Both  steam  and  water-power  are  used, 
but  the  latter  is  in  excess.  The  factories  using  steam,  how- 
ever, though  the}'  have  to  import  their  coal  from  other  States, 
are  receiving  handsome  profits. 

The  following  table  gives  a  comparison  for  three  periods  : 

STATISTICS  OF  COTTON  FACTORIES. 


Number, 

1870. 
12 

18S0 
26 

1892. 

44  estimated 

Capital,    . 

$1,069,000 

14,084,000 

$7,000,000 

Spindles, 

35.000 

181,000 

462,000 

Looms,    . 

12,000 

Bales  consumed,     . 

9.500 

31,000 

186,099 

Value  of  products, 

.     |i, 229,000 

$2,895,000 

$12,000,000  estimated 

South  Carolina  leads  the  South  in  this  industry,  and  the 
profits  are  very  large,  being  from  7  to  25  per  cent,  annually. 
The  mills  must,  sooner  or  later,  "  come  to  the  cotton.""  Those 
coming  first  will  have  choice  of  water-power  and  location. 


TURPENTINE  AND  LUMBER. 


The  turpentine  industry  still  occupies  many  of  our  citizens. 
The  product  of  last  vear  is  estimated  at  75.000  casks  of  tur- 
pentine and  225,000  barrels  of  resin.  Although  much  of  the 
timber  has  been  cut  awav,  a  great  deal  remains,  and  there 
are  many  saw-mills.  Lumber  is  comparativeh'  cheap  and 
the  export  is  large.  It  has  been  claimed  a  long  time  that, 
after  the  pine  tree  has  been  "hacked"  for  turpentine,  it  be- 


SOUTH    CAROLINA.  65 

comes  untit  for  siuving  into  Hrst-class  lumber.  As  much  of 
the  pine  lands  have  been  treated,  there  was  a  hesitancy  in 
buying  lumber.  Recent  careful  experiments  by  the  United 
States  Government  are  said  to  prove  conclusively  that  the 
extraction  of  turpentine  has  no  deleterious  effect  whatever 
on  the  wood,  either  chemically  or  ph^'sically.  Proof  of  such 
a  gratifying  fact  immediately  adds  immensely  to  the  value  of 
our  forests. 

VALUE   OF   PROPERTY. 

The  property  of  South  Carolina  is  assessed  as  follows  : 

Real  estate, 191,700,000 

Personal  propertj' 50,786,000 

Railroad  property,      .....       26,700,000 


Total, $169,186,000 

It  is  obvious  that  this  is  not  the  true  valuation  of  the  pro- 
perty. Some  consider  it  not  more  than  two-thirds  :  others 
not  more  than  half.  The  effect  of  this  undervaluation  is 
to  make  the  tax  rate  appear  double.  Were  the  propertv 
assessed  at  its  value,  no  one  would  be  compelled  to  pay  more 
for  general  expenses,  and  the  low  rate  of  taxes  compares 
favorably  with  the  levy  in  other  States.  The  tax  levy  on 
this  low  assessment  is  :  For  State  purposes,  5^-  mills  ;  for 
ordinary  coimty  taxes,  about  3  mills  ;  for  schools,  2  mills  ; 
with  special  taxes  in  certain  localities. 

FUNDING  THE  .'^TATE  DEBT. 

During  the  present  year  the  State  has  funded  over  five 
millions  of  dollars'  worth  of  bonds  which  will  fall  due  in 
July.  The  old  bonds  bore  6  per  cent,  interest  and  the  new 
ones  will  bear  4^  per  cent.  These  bonds  are  tree  from  taxes, 
and  coupons  are  receivable  for  all  taxes  except  for  the  sup- 
port of  schools.  A  sinking  fund  of  $75,000  a  year,  secured 
by  phosphate  royalty,  is  provided.      These  bonds  were  taken 


(,6  SOUTH    CAROLINA. 

in  a  block  b}-  a  syndicate  and  are  now  quoted  above  par. 
The  total  bonded  debt  of  the  vState  is  about  six  and  a  half 
millions.  The  constitution  provides  that  the  indebtedness 
of  the  State  shall  not  be  increased  without  a  vote  of  two- 
thirds  of  the  qualified  electors  of  the  State,  and  that  no 
county  or  municipality  shall  have  a  debt  in  excess  of  8  per 
cent,  of  its  assessed  property.  This  wise  provision  insures 
investors  against  rash  actions  and  makes  the  bonds  of  the 
State  a  capital  investment. 

Railroads  connect  all  parts  of  the  State  with  each  other 
and  with  the  great  centres  of  trade  and  population.  Water 
transportation  in  the  lower  portions  is  cheap  and  convenient. 
The  total  mileage  of  the  State  is  253,511  miles. 

RELIGION  AND  EDUCATION. 

The  people  of  South  Carolina  are  homogeneous.  Most 
of  the  whites  have  common  origin.  There  is  no  foreign 
population  of  low  character  to  menace  our  free  institutions. 
The  foreign  citizens  of  South  Carolina  are  among  the  best. 
They  have  assimulated  themselves  to  the  existing  conditions. 
Contests  between  capital  and  labor  are  practically  unknown. 
In  every  portion  of  the  State  churches  abound,  and  the  differ- 
ent denominations  have  each  a  large  membership. 

Popular  education  has  much  advanced  in  the  last  decade. 
In  manv  towns  there  are  fine  graded  schools,  besides  private 
institutions.  There  are  fine  higher  institutions  of  learning. 
The  State  maintains  three  white  and  one  colored  colleges, 
and  there  are  several  private  and  sectarian  colleges.  All  are 
doing  good  work.  The}"  offer  superior  lacilities  for  the  use 
of  other  States  who  cannot  stand  a  cold  climate.  Persons 
who  believe  that  every  towm  should  contain  a  church  and  a 
schoolhouse  will  find  these  conditions  in  South  Carolina. 
Public  free  school  buildings  in  1892.  3,487  ;  costing  in  erec- 
tion,   $438,112.49.      Enrollment:    White,    93.530;    colored. 


SOUTH    CAROLINA.  67 

113,219;  total,  206,749.     The  average  attendance:  White, 
67,934;  colored,  80,827  :  total.  148,761. 

MISCELLANEOUS. 

There  is  ample  opportunity  for  profit  in  the  oyster  industry. 
The  State  owns  manv  acres  of  tine  oyster  beds,  which  she 
leases  on  reasonable  terms.  Though  the  Carolina  oyster  is 
not  so  large  as  his  Chesapeake  brother,  he  is  a  rWal  in  deli- 
cacy of  flavor.  Diminishing  yields  elsewhere  should  lead 
oyster  growers  to  turn  their  attention  hither.  Streams,  lakes 
and  bays  abound  in  tine  fish. 

Dr.  Bovles,  of  Pendleton,  is  said  to  have  made  the  largest 
vield  of  rice  to  the  acre  in  the  history  of  rice  culture,  which 
was  92  bushels,  and  Dr.  Parker,  of  Columbia,  betore  the  war, 
made  and  gathered  200  bushels  of  corn  from  a  measured  acre. 

Col.  J.  D.  Wvlie.  of  Lancaster,  made  the  largest  oat  crop 
on  an  acre,  which  was  147  bushels. 

Mr.  Drake,  of  Marlboro,  a  few  vears  ago.  won  the  A))icri- 
can  Agn'cultitrisfs  prize  of  $1,000  tor  the  best  acre  of  corn 
in  the  United  States.  The  crop,  gathered  in  the  presence  of 
the  press  and  others,  measured  two  hundred  and  fifty-four 
(254)  bushels  and  some  odd  pounds.  This  surpasses  all 
known  records,  and  was  made  on  upland. 

Some  of  the  heaviest  vields  of  cotton  in  the  world  have 
been  from  this  State. 

Ten  cuttings  of  alfalfa,  averaging  twenty  inches  to  the 
cutting,  were  made  in  one  vear,  it  is  said,bv  Col.  Rion,  of 
Fairfield. 

More  tlian  a  million  dollars"  worth  of  gold  was  taken  tVom 
the  Do  mine,  in  Edgefield,  and  several  paving  mines  are  now 
in  operation. 

The  finest  long  staple  cotton  in  the  world  has  been  grown 
on  our  sea  islands. 

The  above  facts  give  some  idea  of  the  natural  resources 
and   future  prospects  of  the   State.     South  Carolina  offers 


68  SOUTH    CAROI.INA. 

advantages  to  comers  who  seek  homes,  a  salubrious  climate 
or  investment.  Whether  desiring  to  be  manufacturers  or 
farmers,  they  cannot  go  amiss  if  they  set  their  faces  toward 
the  Palmetto  State,  and  all  such  are  heartily  welcome. 

B.  R.  Tillman, 
Governor  of  South  Carolina. 


PAPER  PREPARED  BY 


P.   W.   M(3KINNE)Y, 


0^y&r^(br  M  Yimifiia 


I 


VIRGINIA, 


ITS  LOCATION,  RESOURCES,  ADVANTAGES,  NEEDS  AND 

DESCRIPTION. 


Virginia  is  one  of  the  Middle  Atlantic  States,  lying  mid- 
way between  Maine  on  the  North  and  Florida  on  the  South. 
It  is  also  one  of  the  belt  of  Central  States  which  runs  across 
the  continent  from  east  to  west.  It  is  situated  in  latitude 
;^6°  31'  to  39°  27'  north,  corresponding  to  that  of  Southern 
Europe,  Central  Asia,  Southern  Japan  and  California.  Its 
longitude  is  from  75°  13'  to  83°  37'  west  from  Greenwich. 
It  extends  2°  57'  north  and  south  and  9°  24'  east  and  west. 

In  soil,  climate,  productions,  conveniences  for  transporta- 
tion, educational  and  religious  advantages,  Virginia  has  no 
superior  among  all  the  States  in  the  Union.  Blessed  with 
the  finest  climate,  absolutely  free  from  extremes  of  heat  and 
cold,  visited  by  neither  cyclones  nor  blizzards,  and  famine 
and  pestilence  being  unknown,  Virginia  offers  a  safe  place 
for  a  home  where  expectations  of  comfort  and  prosperous 
continuance  can  be  relied  on.  The  average  temperature 
(officially  ascertained)  of  the  State  is  56.9,  and  the  average 
rainfall  42.12,  for  ten  3'ears,  and  does  not  vary  materially  in 
any  section. 

The  land  of  the  State  is  cheap,  from  the  splendid  blue-grass 
region  of  the  Valley  of  the  Shenandoah  and  the  Southwest, 
through  the  magnilicent  orchards  and    Nellow-tobacco  tiekls 


72  VIRGINIA. 

of  Piedmont,  to  the  cotton  and  peanut  plains  of  the  southern 
border,  and  the  oyster  beds  and  fishery  shores  of  Tidewater. 
On  the  great  rivers  can  be  found  good,  cheap  lands — low- 
priced  when  compared  with  like  lands  in  other  States  in  the 
Union. 

MINERALS. 

The  mines  of  valuable  ores  are  richer  and  minerals  are 
cheaper  and  the  wood  and  timber  can  be  bought  for  less  than 
elsewhere,  while  in  quality  and  intrinsic  value  they  are  fully 
equal  to  the  best  in  other  States. 

For  twenty  years  mineralogists  have  predicted  that  the  time 
would  come  when  Virginia  would  be  ahead  of  all  other  States 
in  the  quantit}^  and  quality  of  its  minerals.  These  predictions 
have  been  verified  and  immense  deposits  of  minerals,  richer 
than  any  other  State  can  show,  and  great  coal-fields  for 
making  coke,  higher  in  fixed  carbon  and  more  valuable  for 
smelting  purposes  than  any  others,  have  been  discovered,  and 
this  coke  is  being  carried  bv  rail  to  make  cheap  iron  in  other 
States.  During  the  past  few  years  there  has  been  a  great  in- 
crease in  the  amount  of  capital  invested,  and  a  greatly  in- 
creased activity  in  the  mining  of  tin,  gold,  mica,  clay,  salt, 
pyrites,  etc. 

The  number  of  prospectors  and  explorers  of  minerals  is 
greater  than  ever  before  in  the  State,  and  more  analyses  and 
practical  tests  of  minerals  have  been  made,  all  with  fine  re- 
sults.    This  discloses  the  fact  that  minerals  in  paying  quan- 
tities and  qualities  are  found  in  many  localities  not  known 
as  mineral  bearing  heretofore,  and  thus  exceeding  the  high- 
est expectations.     These  minerals  are  in  manv  cases  in  close 
proximity,  which  lessens  the  expense  of  manufacturing  when 
more  than  one  kind  of  mineral  is  needed.      For  instance  : 
Coking  coal,  iron,  lime  and  manganese  for  cheap  iron  and 
steel ;  salt,  coal,  manganese  and  lime  for  soda  ash  and  bleach 
high  carbonate  marls  and  fine  aluminous  clay  for  cement 
fire  clay  for  furnaces,  etc.  ;   alkaline  clav  for  vitrified  brick 
pyrite,  coal  and  lime  for  sulphuric  acid.      Another  consider 


-■<.'. 

'v^'-'iT 


VIRGINIA.  73 

ation  of  value  in  this  connection  is  that  tliere  is  ah'eady  rail- 
road transportation  through  nearly  all  the  mineral  sections, 
with  abundant  water-power,  where  water-power  is  needed. 

The  surface  of  the  State  rises  by  five  steps  from  the  ocean 
shore  to  an  altitude  of  nearly  six  thousand  feet.  Under  these 
steps  are  all  the  richest  minerals.  The  first  area  includes  the 
phosphate  marls  of  Tidewater  and  the  gold  and  more  recent 
coal  formation  and  sulphuret  belt  of  Middle  Virginia  ;  then 
come  the  magnetic  iron,  lead,  zinc  and  manganese  deposits 
of  Piedmont,  the  Blue  Ridge  and  the  Valley,  and  next  the 
vast  deposits  of  salt,  coal,  iron  and  gvpsum  in  Appal achia. 

The  Commissioner  of  Agriculture  reports  that  •'  coke 
from  her  immense  coal-fields  is  higher  in  fixed  carbon  and 
more  valuable  for  smelting  than  any  other,  and  has  been  car- 
ried hundreds  of  miles  bv  rail  to  make  cheap  iron  in  other 
States.  Her  iron  for  steel,  for  cannon,  for  car-wheels,  for 
stoves,  etc.,  has  been  given,  upon  test,  the  highest  places. 
Her  immense  deposits  of  manganese  stand  before  the  world 
without  a  rival.  Her  zinc  has  long  had  a  reputation  based 
on  a  contract  with  the  Italian  Government,  and  both  the  mines 
and  the  smelting  are  increasing.  Her  granite  was  accepted 
by  the  Federal  Government  for  building  after  an  official  test, 
and  the  finest  pavements  in  man}'  cities  of  our  sister  States 
are  of  Virginia  Belgian  block.  Her  large  deposits  of  mag- 
nesian  lime  still  furnish  the  celebrated  James  River  cement. 
And  that  petroleum  has  been  discovered  east  of  the  Blue 
Ridge,  beyond,  per  adventure  in  the  coal  section  near  Rich- 
mond. Her  Buckingham  slate  stands  without  a  rival  in 
roofing.     These  all  have  had  official  and  practical  tests. 

"Add  to  these  minerals  that  have  been  developed  and  be- 
lieved to  have  shown  paying  qualitv  and  quantity,  the  pyrite 
of  Louisa,  mica  of  Amelia,  fire  clay  and  ochre  of  Chester- 
field, gold  of  the  middle  counties,  baryta,  soapstone.  lead, 
copper,  asbestos,  plumbago,  kaolin,  gvpsum,  salt,  lime,  mar- 
ble, lithographic  stone,  and  many  others,  and  \"irginia  may 
well  be  proud  of  her  mineral  wealth  I 


74  \'IR(;iNIA, 

"  The  stone  of  Virginia — granite,  soapstone,  marble  and 
sandstone — are  being  more  extensively  developed  and  regu- 
larl}'  worked  than  ever  before,  and  the  manufacture  of  brick 
in  all  qualities,  tiles,  drain-pipes,  etc.,  is  becoming  a  large  in- 
dustry. 

"Manufactures  of  wood,  iron  and  tobacco  still  hold  their 
prominence,  and  are  followed  by  many  smaller  manufactures 
attracting  attention. 

"  Manufactures  of  wool  are  increasing,  and  fine  woollen 
goods  from  Charlottesville,  Bedford  City  and  Buena  Vista 
are  well  known  in  the  markets  of  the  Union,  while  smaller 
factories  are  springing  up." 

M  AXUFACTL'  RES . 

The  number  of  furnaces  for  smelting  the  various  ores  is 
phenomenal,  and  as  luuch  as  fiftv  luillions  of  dollars  have  been 
invested,  mainh'  brought  in  from  outside  of  the  State. 

Railroads  are  being  projected  and  built  into  sections  where 
the  richness  and  proximity  of  difl:erent  ores  and  an  abundance 
of  fuel  promise  the  cheapest  product,  and  double  the  amount 
alread}"  invested  can  and  will  be  invested  in  these  mines. 

Works  for  the  manufacture  of  metals  are  beginning  to  fol- 
low in  the  track  of  these  furnaces,  and  towns  like  Roanoke, 
Buena  Vista,  Pulaski  City,  Radford  and  others  demonstrate 
the  advantage  of  such  manufactures  by  their  extraordinary 
life  and  growth. 

There  is  remarkable  activitv  in  the  gold  belt. 

Five  years  ago  Pennsylvania  and  Maryland  had  a  monopoly 
of  the  fire-brick  trade  of  Virginia,  and  buff  brick  and  vitri- 
fied brick  came  from  the  Northwest.  Now  Chesterfield  and 
Rockbridge  supply  much  of  the  former  and  Smyth  and  Pow- 
hatan are  prepared  to  compete  for  the  latter. 

MINERAL    WATERS. 

Virginia  has  long  since  been  celebrated  for  its  mineral 
springs,  some  of  which   rank  with   those  tbund  at  the  most 


?>Hig 


/^•;<.tAj^  t*:X£i:S-:^  ■  y^Aii^A  ■ 


VIRGINIA. 


/:) 


noted  resorts  in  the  world.  The  number  is  vearlv  being 
added  to,  and  each  season  brings  large  crowds  from  the 
State  itself,  who,  with  those  who  come  from  far  and  near, 
till  up  every  place  in  the  search  for  pleasure  or  health. 

TIMBER. 

Virginia  has  extensive  forests  of  pine,  white  or  hemlock, 
spruce  or  vew,  yellow  pine  and  oldtield  pine  ;  thirteen  vari- 
eties of  oaks,  besides  cypress,  cedar.  locust,  chestnut,  liick- 
ory,  juniper,  poplar,  cucumber,  gums,  maple,  walnut,  cherry, 
svcamore,  beech,  birch,  persimmon,  ash,  cotton  wood,  mul- 
berry. These  all  grow  large  enough  for  timber,  and  there 
are  several  distinct  varieties  of  them,  giving  to  the  State 
more  than  thirtv  dit^erent  valuable  timbers.  In  some  sec- 
tions walnut,  cherry,  poplar,  pine,  ash,  gum,  oak  and  chest- 
nut attain  an  immense  diameter  and  height.  Many  smaller 
varieties  are  valuable  for  furniture  and  ornamental  work. 

The  Dismal  swamp  can  supply  the  country  with  gum, 
cypress  and  pine  for  a  hundred  vears  to  come  :  Middle  Vir- 
ginia and  Piedmont,  with  pine,  oak,  chestnut,  hickory  and 
locust ;  while  Appalachia,  the  Valley  and  Blue  Ridge  have 
the  finest  and  largest  poplar,  walnut,  cherry,  beech,  birch, 
cedar  and  ash  in  the  whole  countrv.  The  Valley  has  long 
been  famous  for  its  wagon  timber,  whilst  immense  quantities 
of  poplar,  walnut  and  cherrv  go  hx  rail  from  Appalachia  to 
Northern  markets. 

In  the  last  few  vears  large  cargoes  of  timber  have  been 
shipped  from  our  ports.  The  lumber  trade  of  Xortolk  alone 
amounts  to  jf;5 ,000,000  annually. 

A(;RrLi"i/rLRE. 

The  agricultural  products  are  varied  and  abundant.  All 
plants  that  grow  in  any  part  of  the  temperate  zone  flourish 
here.  Across  the  State  there  is  an  isothermal  line  :  south 
of  this  line  plants   that  come  to  perfection  in  ihe  trojiical  re- 


*jC)  VIRGINIA. 

gions  yield  fairly  well — /.  c,  the  fig,  pomegranate  and  olive 
among  the  fruits,  and  cotton,  peanuts  and  yams  come  to  per- 
fection. There  is  another  isothermal  line  on  the  mountain 
side,  several  thousand  feet  above  the  level  of  the  sea,  beyond 
which  the  frost  never  comes.  Above  this  line  the  produc- 
tions belong  to  the  extreme  North  Temperate  zone,  and  here 
rye,  buckwheat,  cabbage,  turnips  and  potatoes  attain  their 
perfection.  Between  these  two  extremes  may  be  found  all 
the  plants  that  belong  to  the  Temperate  zone.  Commodore 
Maury  says  that  "  everything  that  can  be  cultivated  in 
France,  Germany  and  England  may  be  grown  here  equally 
as  well,  with  other  things,  such  as  Indian  corn,  cotton,  to- 
bacco, peanuts,  broom  corn,  sweet  potatoes,  etc.,  which  are 
not  known  as  staples  there."  The  JVational  Republican 
(newspaper)  says  :  "  The  soil  of  Virginia  is  as  varied  as  the 
colors  of  a  crazy  quilt :  Parts  of  it  produce  wheat  equal  to 
Dakota,  corn  equal  to  Illinois,  potatoes  equal  to  New  York, 
cotton  equal  to  Georgia,  while  its  tobacco  is  the  best  made." 
This  description  is  verified.  The  Commissioner  of  Agri- 
culture of  Virginia,  in  his  reports  from  1888  (made  yearly) 
to  1892,  makes  the  following  comparisons: 

Dakota  reports  for  1891,  wheat  average,  ...         16  bushels  per  acre. 

Highest  field  yield, 27       ''  " 

Average,  1892,     .         .         .         .         .         .         .         .         12       "  " 

Highest  yield, 19       "  " 

Virginia  in  1889  reported  three  counties  with  highest 

field  yield  of 50       " 

Eighteen  counties, 40       "  " 

Twenty-nine  counties,         ....       from  25  to  30       "  " 

Eleven  counties  report  many  instances  of  a  yield  of 

over 100       "  " 

Of  corn,  and  a  majority  of  the  counties  report  field 

yields  exceeding 50       "  " 

There  are  authentic  yields  of  potatoes  of  over         .       400       "  " 

And  individual  crops  of  over 10,000       "  " 

Of  cotton,    Southampton   county   reported   as   the 

highest  yield 2,300  pounds  per  acre. 

And  the  census  of  1880  gives  the  product  of  cotton 

in  eight  counties  at 19.598  bales. 


\ 


VIRGINIA.  77 

Every  variety  of  tobacco  can  be  grown  in  Virginia,  of  the 
finest  quality,  with  the  greatest  yield  per  acre. 

There  are  many  instances  in  which  men  of  moderate  means 
have,  with  the  net  proceeds  of  one  year's  crop,  not  onlv 
supported  their  households,  but  paid  the  entire  price  for  the 
land.  There  are  other  well-established  instances  in  which 
the  entire  price  of  the  land  has  been  paid  from  the  net  pro- 
ceeds of  a  crop  of  tobacco  made  from  the  land. 

Trucking  in  some  sections,  especiallj^  in  Tidewater,  has 
been  exceedingly  profitable,  and  there  are  thousands  of  acres 
of  the  peculiar  land  known  as  "trucking  land"  that  can  be 
bouglit  at  very  low  prices.  There  are  authentic  instances  of 
from  three  to  five  paying  crops  being  made  from  the  same 
land  in  one  year.  From  a  thirtv-acre  farm  the  owner  sold 
$15,000  worth  of  vegetables  in  one  vear  ;  from  three  and 
four-sevenths  (3  4-7  )  acres  the  owner  sold  over  $1,700  worth 
of  vegetables  in  one  vear.  Another  vear's  crop  consisted  of 
kale,  which  brought  $250  per  acre,  which  was  followed  bv 
the  Irish  potato  crop,  which  brought  $-25  per  acre,  and 
closing  with  a  crop  of  corn  planted  the  20th  of  June,  bring- 
ing twentv-five  bushels  per  acre.  From  one  and  a  quarter 
(li)  acres  of  this  land  the  owner  sold  $6,201  worth  of  pro- 
duce in  the  five  vears  beginning  with  1883  and  ending  with 
1887.  Evidence  of  these  facts,  after  deducting  freight  and 
commissions,  can  be  found  in  the  ofiice  of  the  State  Com- 
missioner of  Agriculture  of  Virginia. 

It  is  difficult  to  convince  a  stranger  of  these  facts  when  lie 
comes  from  a  country. where  the  annual  rent  of  such  land, 
with  no  better  surroundings,  is  as  great  as  the  fee-simjile 
price  of  \'irginia  lands.  These  lands  are  intrinsically  cheajtci- 
than  auN'  jiublic  lands  subject  to  entry  anywhere,  and  w  ith 
the  advantages  offered  for  trade,  education  and  tlu'  comforts 
of  a  famih',  as  a  jilace  for  making  a  home,  they  are  cheaj>er 
and  better  than  an\-  lands  in  tiie  world. 

There  are  manufactories,  mills,  shops  and  stores  in  every 
county,  mainly   in   the  cities,  towns   and    villages,  and   llu'y 


78  \IK(;iNIA. 

are  fast  embracing  the  utilization  of  every  product  of  the 
State  used,  from  canneries  and  dairies  to  furnaces  and  cot- 
ton mills,  and  the  products  of  their  works  in  cotton,  wool, 
iron,  zinc,  lead,  wood,  tobacco,  truit  and  vegetables  are  not 
excelled  in  the  Union. 

The  growth  of  the  cities  and  towns  of  the  State  is  marked, 
and  her  grand  trunk  lines  of  railroads  and  navigable  rivers, 
leading  to  the  largest,  safest  and  most  magnilicent  harbor  in 
the  world,  surrounded  by  ever}'  appliance  for  trade  and 
commerce,  insure  a  rapid  settlement  around  this  wonderful 
''  haven  for  ships." 

The  navigable  waters  of  Virginia  afford  ingress  and  egress 
to  the  commerce  of  the  world.  At  Norfolk  and  at  Newport 
News,  Lambert's  Point  and  Hampton  Roads  can  float  the 
combined  navies  of  the  world.  In  May,  1893,  war  vessels 
of  great  dimensions,  representing  manv  foreign  countries, 
rendezvoused  at  Hampton  Roads,  and  the  leviathans  of  the 
sea  can  lay  close  up  to  the  wharves  at  Newport  News. 

At  Richmond,  the  beautiful  capital  of  Virginia,  on  the 
historic  James,  can  be  daily  seen  large  passenger  and  freight 
steamers  from  New  York,  Boston,  Philadelphia  and  else- 
where in  the  United  States,  and  sailing  vessels  from  across 
the  might}^  deep,  and  West  Point,  on  the  York  river,  alike 
affords  a  safe  and  commodious  harbor  for  the  largest  ships. 
Alexandria,  Fredericksburg  and  Petersburg  have  lines  of 
steamers  and  qarr}'  on  a  considerable  trade  by  sailing  crafts. 

The  whole  State  has  fine  facilities  for  transportation  for 
freight  and  travel  b}^  rail  and  water,  and  there  is  ever}-  indi- 
cation of  an  increase  in  railroads  and  steamboat  lines  as 
well  as  marked  improvement  in  the  turnpikes  and  county 
roads.  Capital,  to  any  amount,  can  find  a  safe  investment 
in  the  mining  of  every  metal,  in  the  working  up  of  ever^- 
wood,  great  and  small,  known  to  the  Temperate  zone,  as 
well  as  in  ever}-  manufacture  of  the  products  of  the  field  and 
of  the  orchard. 


I 


viK(;iM.\.  79 

FISH   AM)   OVSTHRS. 

The  rivers  and  creeks  of  Viro-inia  are  tilled  w  ith  excellent 
tish.  varying  in  kind  and  quality,  from  the  mountains  to  the 
sea.  In  our  tide-waters  oysters  and  other  shell-fish  are 
abundant,  and  are  excelled  in  no  part  of  the  world.  Our 
people  are  becoming  interested  in  the  propagation  and  culti- 
vation of  tish  and  oysters,  and  while  it  is  now  quite  a  large 
industry,  we  have  reason  to  believe  that  it  is  increasing  and  in 
a  short  time  will  become  the  greatest  of  \"irginia's  industries. 

Oyster  lands,  suitable  for  cultivation,  are  rented  bv  the 
State  to  its  citizens  at  one  ($i  )  dollar  per  acre.  These  lands 
are  unsurpassed  for  this  business,  and  it  is  believed  that  the 
cultivation  of  oysters  will  become  a  source  of  immense  protit 
to  those  who  take  advantage  of  the  present  opportunitv  to 
secure  these  lands.  The  area  of  ovster  lands  controlled  b}' 
the  State  is  estimated  to  be  from  a  million  to  a  million  and  a 
half  acres. 

GAME. 

Many  of  the  counties  of  Virginia  are  full  of  deer,  and  the 
pheasant,  sora,  partridge,  "  olfl  hare,"  wild  ducks,  geese 
and  turkeys   are  in  abundance  in  manv  sections. 

EDUCATION'. 

No  State  has  better  educational  facilities  than  Virginia. 
All  persons  between  five  and  twenty-one  vears  of  age  who 
are  residents  of  the  State  have  a  right  to  attend  our  schools, 
free  of  tuition. 

The  number  of  pupils  enrolled  in  our  pul)lic  schools  for  the 

present  year  was 342,720 

The  number  of  teachers  was    .......  7,795 

The  number  of  schoolhouses  in  use  was        ....  6,595 

The  value  of  school  property  is 12,763,637 

The  cost  of  the  school  system  for  the  year  was  $1,636,982 

The  school  mone}'  is  distributed  among  the  counties  and 
jcities  on  the  basis  of  the  school  population. 


8o  VIRGINIA, 

STATE  INSTITUTIONS  FOR  HIGHER  AND  TECHNICAL  EDUCATION. 

University  of  Virginia,  Charlottesville. 

Virtrinia  Militarv  Institute,  Lexinj^ton. 

Virginia  Agricultural  and  Mechanical  College,  Blacks- 
burg,  Montgomery  county,  Va. 

State  Female  Normal  School,  Farmville,  Prince  Edward 
county,  Va. 

Virginia  Normal  and  Collegiate  Institute,  Petersburg,  Va. 
(For  colored  students  of  both  sexes.) 

College  of  William  and  Mar}-,  and  State  Normal  School. 
Williamsburg,  Va. 

Institution  for  the  Education  of  the  Deaf,  Dumb  and  Blind, 
Staunton,  Va. 

Medical  College  of  Virginia,  Richmond,  Va. 

Hampton  Normal  and  Agricultural  Institute,  Hampton. 
Va.      (For  colored  students  of  both  sexes.) 

The  State  appropriated  for  the  fiscal  year  beginning  Sep- 
tember 30,  1892,  the  sum  of  $159,750  for  the  support  of  the 
above-named  institutions. 

There  are  various  other  schools  and  colleges  of  high  re- 
pute in  various  portions  of  the  State  for  the  education  of  the 
youth  of  this  country.  Their  names  are  not  given  here  be- 
cause we  are  speaking,  in  this  paper,  of  those  institutions 
which  belong  to  the  State,  The  others,  above  referred  to. 
belong  to  different  churches  and  charitable  organizations  of 
every  creed,  and  all  of  them  deserve  high  commendation, 
but  the  limited  space  given  to  this  article  will  not  allow  us 
to  refer  to  them   except  in  a  general  way. 

RELIGIOUS  OBSERVANCE. 

Virginia"  was  first  to  declare  for  religious  liberty.  In  no 
State  in  the  great  Union  of  Commonwealths  is  there  a  better 
regard  of  religious  observances  or  a  more  general  church- 
going  people  than  in  Virginia.  The  spires  of  churches  ol 
all  denominations,  and  of  both  white  and  colored  races, 
tower  up  in  almost  countless  numbers  in  our  cities,  and  in 


11 


VIRGINIA.  Si 

the  counties  at  almost  everv  cross-road  and  in  o\'er\-  neigh- 
borhood can  be  seen  churches,  wherein  everv  Sunda\-.  and 
on  other  days,  the  crowds  that  attend  worship  are  evidences 
of  the  fact  of  religious  libertv  :  for  in  these  temples,  dedi- 
cated to  the  God  of  all  the  people,  can  be  found  those  who 
think  as  the^'  choose  about  religion  and  worship  as  thi'\' 
please,  with  none  to  make  them  afraid.  The  Virginia  ]")e()- 
ple  are  God  serving. 

OIK     PUBLIC     DEBT. 

Tliis  important  question,  which  has  been  giving  us  trouble 
for  many  vears.  is  now  settled  to  the  entire  satisfaction  of  our 
creditors,  and  meets  with  the  approval  of  our  people.  With 
the  present  low  assessment  on  our  propertv  we  can  pay  the 
interest  and  support  the  government  and  keep  up  our  schools. 
The  tax  amounts  to  fort\-  cents  on  ^loo  value  of  propcrt\-, 
which  is  as  low  as  that  imposed  in  most  of  the  States.  With 
an  increasing  population  and  wealth,  this  will  in  all  proba- 
bilit\'  be  reduced  in  a  few  vears  to  a  rate  of  taxation  as  low 
as  that  whicli  can  be  tound  in  an\-  State  of  the  I'nion. 

NEEDS. 

Virginia,  like  most  of  the  old  slave-holding  States,  lan- 
guishes under  a  burden  growing  out  of  the  ownership  of 
large  tracts  of  lands  bv  persons  who  have  neither  labor  nor 
capital  sufficient  to  cultivate  them.  All  over  the  State  these 
large  plantations  are  growing  up  in  pine  and  brush.  With 
all  the  accompaniment  of  a  cultivated  and  retinrd  society, 
with  conveniences  for  agriculture  and  trade,  our  j^eople  arr 
kept  down  hv  pa^'ing  taxes  on  ovvv  15.000,000  acres  ol 
arable  land,  which,  not  being  cultivated,  brings  in  notliing, 
and  is  rapidlv  being  taken  up  b\-  pine  and  other  \\\\d  growths. 
Everv  vear  adds  to  the  cost  <>f  reclaiming  and  imjti'oxing. 
To  remedv  this,  at  least  10,000.000  acres  of  land,  Tiot  inclu- 
ding homesteads,  ought  to  be  sold  (  iS,ooo.ooo  would  hv 
better)  to   immigrants  who   are   able   to   ]nn-chase.    antl   who 


82  VIK(;iMA. 

would  also  stock  and  cultivate  the  land  after  having  bought 
it.  Virginia  wants  men  who  want  homes  for  themselves 
and  families  ;  it  needs  population  ;  it  requires  good  men — 
steady,    industrious,  law-abiding  men — with    their  families. 

IMMIGRATION. 

A  good  class  of  immigrants  would  introduce  small  indus- 
tries into  the  villages  and  thickly-settled  portions  of  the 
State.  These  industries  should  be  suited  to  the  families  of 
men  of  small  means,  who  find  it  necessarv  to  have  their 
children,  if  not  their  wives,  earn  something  awav  from  home. 
Virginia  cannot  atlbrd  to  exchange  her  population  for  that 
of  any  other  land  or  countrv.  With  capital  there  could  not 
be  found  anywhere  better  farmers,  planters,  orchardists  and 
truckers  than  the  present  agricultural  population  ;  nor  better 
miners  and  manufacturers  than  she  already  has.  But  with- 
out complaint  or  inourning  for  the  cause,  her  agriculturists 
and  planters  tind  themselves  with  large  tracts  of  valuable 
land,  which  they  cannot  utilize,  and  they  do  not  wish  to  sell 
their  homes,  but  such  parts  as  thev  are  unable  to  cultivate 
for  want  of  means,  and  their  taxation  is  a  burden. 

CONCLUSION. 

With  this  statement  of  tacts  concerning  Virginia,  showing 
the  inducements  she  offers  to  immigrants,  we  invite  all  good 
and  law-abiding  people  from  the  various  States  of  the  Union, 
and  from  the  various  countries  of  the  world,  to  come  and 
make  their  homes  with  us  and  to  share  with  us  our  advan- 
tages of  government,  education,  of  soil  and  climate,  and  all 
the  blessings  which  have  been  vouchsafed  to  our  Common- 
wealth, and  bring  with  vou  your  families,  your  friends  and 
your  household  goods,  and  you  will  receive  a  cordial  wel- 
come from  our  people  and  from  our  government. 

P.    W.    McKlNNEY, 

Governor  of  Virginia. 


F 


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